Possession of this prime number is illegal in the USA

[dlevere]

Even if you write it on a piece of paper.

85650789657397829 + 1402 more digits is an illegal number.

To understand why this is, we need to learn a little bit of cryptology, a little bit of math, and a little bit of programming.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

By that score, if the U.S. Government can declare use or possession of that number illegal, they could just as easily make it illegal to use certain DIGITS. This is a prime example (pun intended) of wasteful and pointless laws. Might as well throw me in jail for eating ice cream on Sunday (yes, that was illegal over 100 years ago).

[Combusto Dragon]

What?! ice cream is good you know! but math sucks

[xirtamehtsitahw]

Well, math is useful, but some of the stuff they try to, well, um, STUFF down your throat in high school and college hardly ever (often NEVER) gets used in everyday life. But...you NEVER know when it will come in handy. People still come up to me and ask me to recite pi to 60 decimal places. They also ask me weird stuff about even weirder topics, and I oblige them, because they think "knowledge is cool".

Being a nerd is the new "it thing" these days.

[nensondubois]

How the fuck can a number be illegal anywhere?

[Pyriel]

How the fuck are normally functioning adults entertained by having someone recite pi to 60 places?

[xirtamehtsitahw]

I know a few...but as for them being "normally functioning," well, I may have to call that into question. I myself can't actually be called a "normally functioning" adult. I have Asperger syndrome, and can come across as, ahem, eccentric (to put it lightly).

I'm a weirdo. Deal with it. *Puts on pixelated shades*

[Pyriel]

All well and good. Not exactly a representative cross-section of society as a whole, though. If I worked outward from the support groups and classes of the autistic kids I know, I'd have to assume some of the "it" things with today's youth are maps, birds, trains, and for some strange reason, Garry's Mod.

Honestly, the last time I can remember using something I memorized in secondary school was when an actress was reciting Hamlet's soliloquy during her sound-check. She blanked on what followed the first "to die, to sleep", and people started shouting out the wrong phrase because the second occurrence is more well-known. They got fairly insistent about it. I was only able to make them less certain they were right until somebody yanked out a smart-phone, and consulted Google, which is evidently more trustworthy. The one shining moment of my 12th grade English class since I graduated.

[nensondubois]

I'm not autistic at all, but I'm really good when working with and understanding maths, music theory, language, general thinking and reasoning. Common sense also comes a long way.
There are trade-offs such as not being good with any form of arts and craft type things at all but I've learned to accept that as missing a trait.

[Pyriel]

Well, I wasn't questioning the benefits of autism or being smart or knowing bits of trivia. Just how likely it is for random people to ask about things like the 60th digit of pi off the set of Jeopardy!

[Bloodreign]

Next thing you know, 69 will be illegal....oh wait, I hope not.

[nensondubois]

It is only illegal if the constitutional says; otherwise the law is unlawful.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

Amen, bruh. PREACH!

LOL

Anyway, illegal prime numbers don't even scratch the surface of the tip of the idiotic iceberg that is the massive collection of "blue laws" (laws hardly ever, and usually NEVER, upheld, but still on the books for some retarded reason) from all over the world.

For example: there used to be a law where it was illegal to chain an alligator to a fire hydrant...in BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS! Seriously, what gives?

Maybe just too many beans in the average Bostonite's diet...? Who knows?

Or, what about it being illegal to DIE within Paris, France's city limits? Seriously, what are they going to do, dig up your corpse and throw it in jail? WTF?!

[Pyriel]

It is only illegal if the constitutional says; otherwise the law is unlawful.

Horseshit. Well, within certain domains of horseshit anyway. The US Constitution only mentions three or four crimes explicitly, the rest is vaguely covered by powers granted to and responsibilities laid on the federal government. You can make an argument that there's a lot of stupid and overreaching laws on the books, but by "constitution says" standards you either can't do customs and immigration enforcement, or every state has to make their own laws. I'd actually like that, because I'd find a way to be in charge of Montana, and declare that everyone who enters the country and arrives by traveling exclusively on land from the south can become a naturalized citizen within a year, just to piss off and bankrupt the southwest.

[nensondubois]

You might want to look at the Bill of Rights also before you make invalid claims. The country was not founded by a massive central gov't.