Can you find a boring whole number? The number one is the first whole number, two is the only even prime, three is the first odd prime. Is four boring? Perhaps…

Did you know that 2023 is equal to (2+0+2+3) x (2^2+0^2+2^2+3^2) = 7 x 17^2? That’s definitely interesting.

Let’s agree that a number can be considered ‘interesting’ if it has a unique or exciting property. Otherwise, we call it a ‘boring’ number. We can then argue that if boring numbers existed, then the smallest boring number would be interesting!

This means that the number four is definitely interesting. It’s either intrinsically interesting or it is the first boring number – which is interesting. We call this the Interesting Number Paradox.

This paradox arises because of the incredibly subjective definition of ‘interesting’. If we had defined interesting as ‘a number that is the sum of two cubes in two different ways’ (bonus points to the reader if they know the reference), the paradox would not arise.

Mathematicians that don’t take themselves too seriously consider these paradoxes as humour; however, they also serve as a reminder of the importance of precise definitions and rigour in mathematical reasoning.