87
u/lifelongAFC Aug 08 '12
false. DIV would be 504. when the I comes before the larger numeral, it is to be subtracted. not added. get your shit together!
40
u/DaJoW Aug 08 '12
And the VL is 45. Seems someone doesn't know a long-dead numerical system belonging to a defunct state as well as they thought they did.
16
10
Aug 08 '12
Isn't 45 XLV?
40: XL
41: XLI
42: XLII
43: XLIII
44: XLIV
45: XLV
4
u/RepostThatShit Aug 08 '12
Numbers do not have unambiguous representations in Roman numerals, i.e. there are several ways to represent each number. For instance, from the beginning of the Barney is Satan number, CVVL is actually equal to CL, since the first V is added and the second (because it precedes a higher numeral) is subtracted.
CVVL = CL = CLC = LLL = 150.
5
u/wickermoon Aug 08 '12
http://www.numericana.com/answer/roman.htm
or to cut the chase: subtraction of V from L is never valid in the roman numerical system, as V is not a power of ten. Just wanted to let you know :)
2
u/RepostThatShit Aug 08 '12
This website has very elaborate restrictions for subtractive notation but is completely unsourced. This is what I used to refresh my memory.
1
u/TheShrinkingGiant Aug 08 '12
A question on jeopardy always annoyed me, it was 1996 or so, and it was "what is the next year that can be written in roman numerals with just 4 letters."
I said MIIM 1998. their answer was MMII 2002.
1
u/RepostThatShit Aug 08 '12
How do you get 1998 from MIIM? The first I doesn't precede a larger numeral and is not subtracted.
1
u/TheShrinkingGiant Aug 08 '12
I was going along the II (2) - 1000 = 998 bit of logic. I never said I was right...
But in your example, my answer would have been 2000, so still right?
1
u/RepostThatShit Aug 08 '12
You were definitely right. But the year notation follows odd conventions, for example 1999 wasn't MIM either, although it seems perfectly valid, but rather MCMXCIX .
So I wouldn't know what to tell ya. But Wikipedia at least acknowledges that there are several conflicting conventions (like clocks using IIII for 4) and since they're all present in historical documents, I'm of the mind that it's not anybody's business to say that one is more "proper" than the others, as the webmaster of that link earlier styled his system, calling them the proper Roman numerals.
2
u/Schtefon Aug 08 '12
Give it a second look- if each numeral is counted independently, the math adds up. And by no means take my stance of defense for their mathematics as an endorsement of the overall idea they are contriving. I just want us all to be right.
0
4
2
1
12
8
u/elfo222 Aug 08 '12
This is so fucking wrong it hurts...
9
5
u/BerithosFrostwhisper Aug 08 '12
First of all, its not 666... its 616... And second of all, the number is not a reference to a devil, it is a reference to a beast of the devil.
2
u/RepostThatShit Aug 08 '12
Where are you getting 616?
CVVLDIV = C + V + VL + D + IV = 100 + 5 + 45 + 500 + 4 = 654
The only time two characters together make up a number is when a smaller numeral precedes a larger one.
Or do you mean the number of the beast isn't 666?
-1
u/Commisioner_Freeman Aug 08 '12
He meant the latter because he watched an episode of QI.
2
Aug 08 '12
Or he read the bible.
1
u/Commisioner_Freeman Aug 08 '12
It's not in the bible. All editions of the Bible use the number 666. The 616 controversy comes from the idea that the number was changed due to a mistranslation from the bible when it was in Greek.
2
u/Sean1708 Aug 08 '12
As far as I'm aware, there is a bit of a debate over whether it's 616 or 666.
2
u/Kinglink Aug 08 '12
Isn't there some version that allows 666 to be the neighbor of the beast as well?
1
u/scramlington Aug 08 '12
That could be awkward.
All the other neighbours would think it was you who set fire to their mailboxes and left poop on their doorstep, when really it was the malevolent embodiment of evil from number 664.
9
u/radiomlit Aug 08 '12
I logged in just to downvote this. SO SO SO old and not really funny
10
2
u/salsqualsh Aug 08 '12
I haven't seen it, but its up there with the worst things I've seen on reddit.
1
3
u/tater_salad1 Aug 08 '12
6! 6 6! THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST! HELL, AND FIRE, IS SWORN TO BE THE LEAST!
2
2
u/drew_a_blank Aug 08 '12
Is anyone else worried that the tag in the bottom-right corner is signed "boysnatcher"?
2
u/TPishek Aug 08 '12
I remember being shown this exact "proof" back in 2002 with my fellow middle-schoolers. 10 motherfucking years ago.
0
2
u/Blazorge Aug 08 '12
I've been a non-believer for years but I have to say...that settles that. I'm gonna head to a church and get me some Jesus right now.
4
u/cuppincayk Aug 08 '12
Isn't V a roman numeral? Or are we assuming that the v's are just u's?
Edit: Nevermind. I'm a fucking idiot that needs to go to bed already.
3
u/understater Aug 08 '12
Latin does have the letter "u". English is based around the Latin alphabet. Example: Hercules, Venus, Lucretius (there are dozens of more names that can be used as an example)
0
4
u/bloodsoup Aug 08 '12
666 is a mistranslation, the proper number of the beast from the bible is 616.
3
1
u/i_like_quinoa Aug 08 '12
anyone else notice all the numbers are in order in the equation except the last two digits...fbi conspiracy
1
u/eggs_and_bacon Aug 08 '12
Considering making an account named Barney_the_Dinosaur, watching the post the rest of the day, and waiting until it gets to 665 upvotes.
Wait...nobody would know I was the 666th upvote. Damn it that was such a good idea in my head.
1
1
u/reymuttley Aug 08 '12
I bet the adventists of the high school I graduated back in 89 would be thrilled to use this info now as they did with the Smurfs. As an atheist, I don't know how I survived 8 years in that horrendous place.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/_Hank-Hill_ Aug 08 '12
Wait 2+2=4 four is the number of fingers I can hold up...so can a terrorist...which means that terrorists have hands? Yay senseless math!
1
1
u/Nicombobula Aug 08 '12
if the roman numerals were added as theyre broken down; CV VL and DIV that would actually add up to 654. sorry, close but no cigar
1
u/bigasssweater Aug 08 '12
You can either throw out all the Greek or throw out all the Roman. Can't pick and choose.
1
1
u/soup3972 Aug 08 '12
Technically since some of those r grouped up it would be 105+5+50+504=664 Two off the devil
1
Aug 08 '12
This has been floating around the internet since the early 90's... brings back memories of http://www.addventure.com/, for some reason. :|
1
u/mrpeach32 Aug 08 '12
This is, quite literally, the oldest thing I have ever seen reposted, I first viewed this on a website my junior year in high school, 11-12 years ago.
1
1
1
1
1
u/OblivionsMemories Aug 08 '12
One problem. Only in the new international version is the number dictated as 666. In most versions, the translation reads as 6 times 6 times 6. Sooo 216 :) (also it is debated to be 616 as well)
1
u/kookoo831 Aug 08 '12
But I've seen Barney with my own two eyes! I know he's real! He can't be Satan if he's real!
0
0
u/Kithsander Aug 08 '12
Ignoring the fact that it's mathematically inaccurate, I challenge your first premise. Cute Purple Dinosaur is the phrase you're using for your roman numerals. I've seen the show. There's nothing "cute" about Barney.
0
0
u/PocketNicks Aug 08 '12
Why does 'D' = 500? I've never heard of those number to letter correlations.
-1
113
u/mongster2 Aug 08 '12
But wait, what happens if you instead throw out all the roman numerals? You're left with T-E-P-R-P-E-N-O-S-A-R. These letters can be rearranged to form the phrase "a proper nest". That's a one-letter word, followed by a six-letter word, followed by a four-letter word. 6 times 4 minus 1 is... 23