Theory time! *MAJOR Spoilers, duh*

[Sirea]

Okay then why don't the first three digits of my SSN match any area/zip code in the New Jersey area? And I was born in 1989.

[Mis Krist.]

I think it's possible that isn't being used anymore--there's no 118 in NY and two members of my immediate family have SSN#s that start that way.

[The Adversary]

>why don't the first three digits of my SSN match any area/zip code in the New Jersey area?
Probably b/c the numbers, post-1973, like I wrote in my previous message, were issued from a central office, not local offices as Adam's number would have been.

>there's no 118 in NY
Not according to the U.S.'s Web site.

[Mis Krist.]

Wait, we're going by ZIP CODES? Not area codes? wtf I'm confused.

eta: Also, stupid me, isn't this what the Dog Tag thread was being used for? We should probably be talking about this in there instead of derailing this... I think Sirea meant to ask about other things relating to the 206 number besides, well, SSN# confusion.

[The Adversary]

Area codes (the 3 digits prefacing a phone number) have nothing to do w/ one's social security number.

[Sirea]

But it also says that it's issued by zip code. And every single zip code in NJ starts with 07 or 08. lol government site being confusing.

This is SO IRRELEVANT btw.

[The Adversary]

a. Determine the state in which you were born and/or applied for social security.

b. Locate the corresponding number at this Web site.

c. These 3 numbers, if you were born after 1973, will undoubtedly be the first digits in your social security number.

d. If they are not, locate the 3 digit number on the Web site. This is where you were registered by social security.

As such, b/c Adam Shepherd's first 3 digits in his ss# are 206, we can determine the likelihood of him being born, or having been registered for social security, in Pennsylvania. However, I cannot find a listing of numbers pre-1973 online, so there may be, and probably is, a difference.

[Sirea]

And you think it's all that simple and it has absolutely no bearing on the significance of the numbers in the game as presented at all?

[The Adversary]

I think it's obvious why Double Helix chose the number 206. I also don't think it matters Adam is from, or, as it turns out, appliedª for social security in, Pennsylvania. However, it's interesting to note.

ª: According to this Web site, "the Area is determined by where the individual applied for SSN (before 1972) or resided at time of application (after 1972)." Therefore Adam, at the very least, had to have applied for his social security number from Pennsylvania.

[Sirea]

I think it's obvious why Double Helix chose the number 206. I also don't think it matters Adam is from, or, as it turns out, appliedª for social security in, Pennsylvania. However, it's interesting to note.

ª: According to this Web site, "the Area is determined by where the individual applied for SSN (before 1972) or resided at time of application (after 1972)." Therefore Adam, at the very least, had to have applied for his social security number from Pennsylvania.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, that doesn't make any goddamn sense. Why would he be born in PA when Shepherd's Glen is in Maine, and there seems to be an obvious stressing of the people in that town being born at a very particular time/place?

Also, it's really not that obvious why Double Helix chose 206. At least, I can't think of anything. There's some significance here. When a number is that important to the very core storyline of a game, it doesn't just "pop up" somewhere else for no explicable reason, especially if that flimsy reason pokes a HUGE plot hole into the story.

[The Adversary]

I don't think you're getting it.

Double Helix undoubtedly didn't bother to verify the number 206 in one's social security number. However, it was clearly chosen b/c of the recurrent 206 theme throughout the entire game. The number is an allusion to the key event in the game's narrative.

The fact remains: According to the U.S. social security index, Adam was registered for his ss# in Pennsylvania, regardless of where the town of Silent Hill is. The two facts can be distinguished; neither are imperative to the other's existence.

[Sirea]

Silent Hill universe =/= real world. There is literally no conceivable reason for Adam to have been born in PA, at all, ever, for any reason. Unless he was born on a military base or something, but there is absolutely zero evidence to substantiate this whatsoever. I think it was just a coincidence that 206 happened to be in PA, and like you just said, it's important to the rest of the story.

This being the case, going back to my original comment: What significance is it that the first three numbers of his SSN are 206? Is it significant at all, or just another place where the numbers turn up?

I just find it strange that they'd be there, considering the fact that Alex would have seen them prior to him going nutzo. He had the tags since he was a kid, so the numbers were in his head. It seems like it'd be more than just a strange happening that he also went crazy at that exact moment in time, as well.

[The Adversary]

>Silent Hill universe =/= real world.
The Silent Hill universe, w/in the context of the games, exists in the real world, therefore we, the audience, must discuss the series w these real world rules in mind.

>there is absolutely zero evidence to substantiate this whatsoever.
Well, there is that fact the number 206 corresponds to Pennsylvania, so yes there is evidence of this.

>It seems like it'd be more than just a strange happening
Coincidences do in fact happen. Carl Jung made most of a career postulating this.

[Sirea]

>Silent Hill universe =/= real world.
The Silent Hill universe, w/in the context of the games, exists in the real world, therefore we, the audience, must discuss the series w these real world rules in mind.

um okay so does Resident Evil, but there's so many things wrong with the way its governmental and law enforcement procedures work that it makes my head hurt. We really can't look to the real world for everything that exists in a fictional one. We just can't.

>It seems like it'd be more than just a strange happening
Coincidences do in fact happen. Carl Jung made most of a career postulating this.

Not in Silent Hill, bro. And if anything, the coincidence is in the Pennsylvania thing, not in this.

[The Adversary]

I guess it's a good thing we're not talking about Resident Evil, then, huh. . . ?

Accordingly, gravity—b/c it's a construct w/in the real world—doesn't nec. exist in the Silent Hill franchise. Good to know.

>Not in Silent Hill, bro. And if anything, the coincidence is in the Pennsylvania thing, not in this.
How so? I've already established the 206 in one's social security number is Pennsylvania-based, and Adam's ss# begins w/ 206. Therefore, Adam was registered from Pennsylvania. This event, having occurred in 1954, takes chronological precedent over Alex's accident. Thus, the coincidence is the time at which the accident happened.

[Sirea]

... bro you wasted?

[The Adversary]

Not yr bro.

Girl you readin'?

[Sirea]

maybe. maybe just a little, man.

[jthomp1286]

I hate the "Silent Hill != The Real World so anything is possible!!11oneLOL" argument.

206 being a coincidence seems pretty solid to me. Sometimes, we do in fact analyze these things too much. It is interesting that the number 206 is in his SSN, and that was the time of the accident. Does it mean anything beyond that? I seriously doubt it. Even if it did, so what? The first has no effect on the other.

[Sirea]

Unless the number 206 was completely fabricated because Alex already had the numbers in his head, which makes me wonder what else in that game was inaccurate/didn't happen. Just some food for thought.