It looks really odd, but basically here's how it works: Take a number. If it's odd, multiply by 3 and add 1. If it's even, divide by 2. There is a conjecture that states that no matter what, every number will always end up in a loop of 4,2,1. Every number you see here, at least so far, has gone down to 1. UPDATE: Changed numbers tested to 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 as people have already brute forced that far.