Re: VMs: Folio and Quire numbers

[Dennis <tsalagi@xxxxxxxx>]

Bruce Grant wrote:
> 
> This type of argument can get you into trouble, I think. For example, I
> remember years ago running across a tract which attempted to show that
> the Bible must be divinely composed because of a large number of
> statistics about it which involve the number seven. For example (I'm
> making up a couple since I don't recall the ones in the tract), the
> number of words referring to plants was exactly divisible by seven, also
> the number of occurences of the word "and", the number of verses, and so
> on. Other things were divisible by 77 or 777. The author went on to
> argue that no human being could have composed a book in which all of
> these counts came out correct simultaneously as the last word was being
> written.
> 
> The flaw in the argument is that the autohor of the tract got to pick
> which statistics to use after the fact. 

	Another error he made is due to the fact that all
ancient cultures, including the Old Testament Jews,
considered seven a sacred number (because, of course,
of the predictable motions of the sun, moon, and five
visible "planets").  The various ancient authors were
constantly looking for the number seven.   So the Bible
is that way due to the intent of the (human) authors
and their reliance on a common tradition.  

> Similarly, not knowing anything
> about the method of encryption, we don't know which features are
> siginificant, and therefore whether the structure is realy complex or not.
> 
> (At least, that's how it looks to me.)

	I agree.

Dennis
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