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The Significance of Six

by Ari

Six. How do I know thee? Let me count the ways. On the sixth day, God created Man, and not too long afterwards, the number 6 became known as the atomic number of carbon, based on some part I am sure by the numeral's octahedral and hexagonal properties, not to mention its divisibility by 1, 2, and 3. Over time, through fluke or fact, mankind grew riddled with six points on a Star of David, six guitar strings (for six Tchaikovsky symphonies, six Brandenburg concertos, and six Bartok string quartets, no less), six points for football touchdowns, six balls to a cricket over, six packs of soda and beer, six-legged insects, six sides of a die, Six Flags' roller coasters, six inhabited continents, the sixth sense, and six degrees of Kevin Bacon. There are many other significances of the number six, such as people born with sexfactyly, coffins buried six feet underground, and three sixes being the sign of the Devil, but perhaps the highest magnitude is to Six Sentences.

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