4697944

There's a number, at least one of them, that has been mentioned the same number of times in history as its value. For example, the number "2348968" has only been written or mentioned in that sequence 2348968 times. The nature of these rare numbers, unfortunately, prevents us from ever truly discovering them.
Let's put this into a scenario; Professor Jean-Paul is a famous mathematician. No lie. He invents a time machine for the sole purpose of discovering the kind of magical number. Obviously, simply discovering time travel won't get him that Nobel Prize. So he records every number in in history and discovers that the number of times that "2348968"has been used is equal to 2348968. But silly Jean-Paul, the dense mathematician that he happens to be, forgets to include all of the times that he recorded the number. So, instead of finding a magical number, 2348968 has been used 4697936 times, or 2(234896).
Even the explanation of my number theory is setting "2348968" further away from it's magical properties. Now the total number of times that "2348968" has been mentioned is at 4697944.

Illusion of Control

Hey kiddos.
I was considering a topic that was mentioned earlier in this blog. See, this is a big deal that deserves much more attention than a mere paragraph. This is a big deal that deserves two paragraphs.
My dad once told me that nobody does anything without a reason. I tried to prove otherwise by spastically flailing my arms and cavorting around. Then, and not a second too late, I realized that my reason for doing so was simply to prove my father's statement wrong. Still, throughout the rest of my childhood I would occasionally break out into tiny little fits of spontaneous movement to get a snap at that statement.

Why, exactly, is it impossible for people to do things without a reason? I know why.
People are able to make decisions, but the outcome of the decision-making process doesn't depend on will. According to a medical magazine article that I've read, it's been proven. Let me elaborate on that; You don't choose to eat a dead sandwich because you want to. You choose to eat the dead sandwich because you're hungry. You might want to eat the sandwich because it tastes good, but you never choose to eat the sandwich because you want to eat the sandwich.

Therefore, you really don't have much control over the choices that you make. It might seem like you do, but no matter what you want to choose (which would usually agree to your decision anyways, giving you to illusion of control), you'll still make the same choice. So if we don't have control over our decisions, why even try? Beats me.

Decisions are merely reactions, so why are reactions different from different people? Sure, heredity has something to do with it, but if decision-making is eliminated, what else is there that shapes us as individuals? Experience? This is best saved, however, for a different discussion at a different time.

Love Juice and Thinking Caps

"No, Justin Beiber, you're not in love with that girl. You're twelve."- God.

Okay, I understand that he's my age, though awkwardly prepubescent. And I have to give him credit for his success; I'm sure that it fuels an intensely burning envy in the pit of my generation. And he's a cootie infestation and whatnot. But of all things, God, who is to say that twelve-year-olds can't love?
Okay, someone needs to smite me for standing up for Beiber, but this isn't about him at all. This is about the fidgety topic of prepubescent love. And I'm not talking about the Loofah Girl, you wacky locals.
I once had a friendly debate over this very topic with Emma. She was, as most are, doubtful that tween love was the real deal. When put into scientific terms, love is just a chemical released by the brain that makes you feel, for the lack of a better term, happy. It's a proven fact. After some thought, it can be safely assumed that love solely exists as a means for a couple to stay together long enough to raise a kid. Of course, that's in the terms of cold and unbiased science.
So are all 12-year-olds incapable of releasing a little love juice from their thinking caps? It sounds so much easier to grasp when I say it like that.

Because, as we teens all understand, love is a pretty hurly-burly word to be throwing around.