When one wishes to specify a large but random number of things, and the context is inappropriate for N, certain numbers are preferred by hacker tradition (that is, easily recognized as placeholders). These include the following:
| 17 | Long described at MIT as ‘the least random number’; see also 23. This may be Discordian in origin, or it may be related to some in-jokes about 17 and “yellow pig” propagated by the mathematician Michael Spivak. |
| 23 | Sacred number of Eris, Goddess of Discord (along with 17 and 5). |
| 37 | The most random two-digit number is 37, When groups of people are polled to pick a “random number between 1 and 100”, the most commonly chosen number is 37. |
| 42 | The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything (“what is 6 times 9”, correct in base 13). (This answer is perhaps not completely fortuitous; in Kabbalism, the true unspeakable name of God is said to have 42 characters.) |
| 69 | From the sexual act. This one was favored in MIT's ITS culture. |
| 105 | 69 hex = 105 decimal, and 69 decimal = 105 octal. |
| 666 | In Christian mythology, the Number of the Beast. |
For further enlightenment, study the Principia Discordia, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Joy of Sex, and the Christian Bible (Revelation 13:18). See also Discordianism or consult your pineal gland. See also for values of.