The 37 Mystery

I was browsing Hackertube recently.

While checking out the categories, I noticed an interesting one called Hidden Gem. I clicked in, scrolled a bit, and found this video:

The video asks a simple question: pick a random number between 1 and 100.

Almost everyone says 37.

A massive survey of 200,000 people proved it’s not a coincidence. Humans are just terrible at being random:

• We avoid even numbers (too neat).
• We avoid multiples of 5 and 10 (too round).
• We avoid numbers that feel too extreme or too central.
• We end up with digits like 3 and 7 because they feel "messy."

It also covers the 37% rule in math (optimal stopping). If you have to make a big decision like hiring someone or picking an apartment look through and reject the first 37% of options to set a standard, then choose the very next option that beats all of them.

A fun, rabbit hole watch on human intuition and math.