Threesology Research Journal: The Scientification of Philosophy by way of a Threes Model
A Study of the Threes Phenomena
(Cognitive Enumeration Studies)
Does it lead to a Scientification of Philosophy?
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Note: It is of value to make mention of the need for those interested in the Threes phenomena to make a "hard" (printed) copy of the pages at this and other sites in the event of an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) burst, which will fry all of our electronics. All the information stored on my hard/thumb drives (and old CDs) will be lost unless steps are taken to preserve the collection such as the use of Faraday containers. If you do make a printed copy, barring the advent of a nuclear blast which wipes us out of existence; you may well have the only surviving copy which can be printed at some later date.

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The World is Full of Obvious Threes

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Before Jumping feet first into the present topic of "Threes" Research by providing some examples of those who use a 3-patterned orientation in their individual interests, it is of need to point out that research into the "threes phenomena" can alternatively be labeled (for example) Threes Research, Tripartite-ideology, Cognitive Enumeration studies, (as well as Enumerative Combinatorics). The latter being a field of study found in Mathematics. However, the symbology used in Mathematics for most people is highly cumbersome and requires a duality-based visualization effort... meaning it is a particularly stylized form of Artistic effort that often wears the smock of a scientist walking mentally in a peripatetic fashion who sometimes dabbles with a 3-patterned tool such as Trigonometry (Sine- Cosine- Tangent), Boolean Algebra (applied to computing in the form of the 3 basic gates: AND- OR- NOT), and the Pythagorean theorem (A2 + B2 = C2); though the latter reminds me of the embellished duality found in syllogistic logic such as "Major Premise- Minor Premise- Conclusion".

A discussion of "two-patterned" ideas is of need because of their role in helping to generate some values of the "three" phenomena, which some feel would be an impossibility to achieve without going through a one... then two... development, much in the biological sense of the 3 Germ layers development which have passed through a "Monoploblastic"- Diploblastic- Triploblastic sequence, though the word "Monoploblastic" is not used in typical Biologically- oriented discussions.

  • 3 Germ layers; (Triploblastic animals): From Earth worms to humans.
  • 2 Germ layers; (Diploblastic life forms): Such as jellyfish, corals, and sea anemones.
  • 1 Germ layer; ("Monoploblastic" animal form): Sponges? (Some accountes say no germ layers, others say one, and still others say two.)

I coined the term "Monoploblastic" even if there are no particularly definitive examples of the single germ layer condition except for perhaps Sponges, but this example is not accepted by some researchers. The point is, that there is a distinguishable sequential development which passed through (numerically smaller) stages before the "three" was achieved. This is not to say that there may be no instances in any subject that the occurrence of some "three" example has not arisen spontaneously or without a particularly visible "one" or "two" precursor, but this does not detract from the "one- two- three" developmental sequencing event idea. It merely adds to it as another example of the "three" presence in our ideas.

Examples of Cells from the 3 Germ Layers

Along with a list of dualities in mathematics and those in the yin/yang profile, let us recall the list of binaries used in computer language and the Binomial {genus/species} Nomenclature developed by Carl Linnaeus. In some cases we can see later attempts to develop some three-patterned model of thinking... or some "permutation" thereof (such as the topic of a World War III coming after a supposed World War II, though some think that the previous two world wars were later born extensions of earlier conflicts that continue to resurface and become compounded by the participation of others, though the origination of the very first battle to develop such a recurring mental state is not a well-studied topic because it requires a very broad understanding of multiple subjects).

It goes without saying that a big issue in the topic of "threes" is the presence of multiple two-patterned ideas which some suggest indicates humanity's development is stuck in the muck and is being prevented in developing beyond the "two", to the extent there remains multiple two-patterned ideas and is sometimes referred to as the Persistence of Dichotomies that Psychology and multiple venues of Philosophy appear to be hung up on— and any subject which relies heavily on two-patterned philosophical discourses... one of which is the idea of Cognitive Bias, perhaps better understood if one sees a List of Cognitive Biases being perpetuated if not perpetrated on the public's consciousness of experience and relative usage thereof. When we have multiple "three"-oriented philsophies that are actually Embellished Dualities (Exhibit a pattern-of-three but function as a pattern-of-two), the presence of an actual "three" idea is made more difficult to assess.

Just because we say something is a representative "three pattern" doesn't mean it is. For example, we can add three or more tongs to a two-pronged fork, but the label used in the description retains its original bi-"forkedness" identity. In other words, we don't call it a trident or quadrident, etc... We retain the primitive counting scheme of "1- 2- Many/Much/More" in the Knife- Fork- Spoon ensemble of expression, whose identities are metaphors for quantities.

Dualities comparison between two subjects

It is of need to point out that all the complex life forms from Earth worms to Humans have three Germ Layers while more biologically primitive life forms have two germ layers, with the single layer event having passed out of an easily observable existence, if in fact it solidified and was represented by one or more life forms which existed in the very deep past, even if there are no extant forms because of their insusceptibility to fossilization or survivability into our present era. For some, biological states of primivity relate to psychological and philosophical (as well as Mathematical) states of primivity that many think is normal, natural and the epitome of rationality because it is so widespread. However, in so many cases I come across researchers advocating a point of view based on some dichotomy or the idea of dichotomy as a whole, and yet are unaware of Triplicity to the extent it is being studied such as this site is advocating. Those who are pushing some perspective of dichotomy have been found to be particularly ignorant of trichotomization. Trichotomists are not similarly ignorant of the dichotomization presence and know of its role in the development of "threes", though several presumed three-patterns are embellished dichotomies.

As for the label "Enumerative Combinatorics" or "Enumerative Combinatoric Permutations", let me define it in a simple way by describing:

  • "Enumerative" as number (whether singularly sequential 1,2,3... or not,
    • since there are recurring "sets-of-three" patterns such as 1-4-7, 2-3-4, 3-4-5, 3-6-9, a-b-c...
    • or patterns occurring with more than one symbol or number, or word, or sentence, or book, etc., in mixed forms).
  • "Combinatorics" as combinations (within and between ideas, behaviors, subject disciplines, people, cultures, time periods, etc...).
  • "Permutations" as in-addition-to/from/because of;

...though permutations may not necessarily occur in the mathematical sense, since words like "other", "alternative", "change", "division", "multiplicity", "evolved", "devolved", "growth", "decrease", "mutation", "mirror-image", etc... might well be a more definitive description in some instances (outside the realm of mathematics).

3 and 5 ends in DNA

Let us take for example the 3 letters "ABC". Permuations of this would be ACB, BCA, BAC, CAB, CBA. In additions, the overall count is from a single 3 (ABC) to 5 combinations, which is a pattern we see in the DNA strand, and is meant in this context merely as a correlation that needs a bit of explanation. Such a correlation is yet another type of permutation of overall cognitive activity that may repetitively play out in multiple other subject areas and found in Nature... since the human mind is frequently shown to mimic patterns found in non-human Natural events.

For those interested in the "3-5" reference in DNA (in the current sense as a language script of human cognitive (associative) activity):

  • DNA is read in a specific direction, just as letters and words in English are read from left to right.
  • Furthermore, each end of the DNA chain is represented by a number.
  • One end of the DNA molecule is known as 5' (five prime), and the other end is known as 3'. (three prime).
  • The numbers 3' and 5' refer to the number of carbon atoms in a deoxyribose sugar molecule that a phosphate group binds to.
  • The carbons in sugar are numbered clockwise, beginning with the oxygen atom.
  • This asymmetry gives the DNA strand a "direction," and the bases in the DNA are read from 5' to 3'.
  • Because of this directionality and the fact that the synthesis proceeds in the 5'3' direction, polynucleotide sequences are read and written in the 5'3' direction.
  • Nucleic acid, like polypeptides, has an end-to-end chemical orientation.
  • On the 5' carbon of its terminal sugar, the 5' end has a phosphate group.
  • A DNA strand with the fifth carbon within the sugar ring at its terminus is said to have a five prime end.
  • On the 3' carbon of its terminal sugar, the 3' end has a free hydroxyl group.
  • The three prime ends of a molecule is the end that ends in a 3' phosphate group.
  • Phosphate groups at the 5' end of one nucleotide and hydroxyl groups at the 3' end of another nucleotide can form phosphodiester bonds, connecting adjacent molecules.
  • The sugar-phosphate backbone is provided by this linkage, which provides the structural rigidity of DNA.

Source: Identifying the 5 and 3 ends of DNA

It is of interest to note the directionality in the above script which is "clockwise", though anti-clockwise appears to be the standard for amino acids and also is the direction which the Earth spins; which may have had some part in imposing this direction, otherwise known as chirality, though researchers may speak of directionality as "handedness" in terms of magnetic properties within the field of stereo-chemistry involving polarized light. The problem with this is that the researchers don't consider magnetism also having been given its properties from the same planetary mechanism(s) which may have given directionality to biological substrates, particularly when we take into consideration the accelerated rate of Earth's rotation in its early years of generating basic molecular entities involving the Sun as a singular object, the Sun with its duality of the night/day sequence, and the Sun with its triple stroboscopic effect involving the distinguishable Dawn- Noon- Dusk phases/"moments". They think of magnetism as a point of origination (the primary disease... so to speak) and not as just another symptom (expression). In fact, as another example of directionality on the planetary scale, let us reference Venus and Uranus rotating clockwise in contrast to all the other planets rotating 'widdershins' (counter-clockwise).

...In 1848, French chemist Louis Pasteur discovered that some molecules essential for life exist in mirror image forms, much like our left and right hands (from which the idea of "handedness" is derived). Today, we know biology chooses just one of these "chiral" forms: DNA, RNA, and their building blocks are all right-handed, whereas amino acids and proteins are all left-handed. Pasteur, who saw hints of this selectivity, or "homochirality," thought magnetic fields might somehow explain it, but its origin has remained one of biology's great mysteries. Now, it turns out Pasteur may have been onto something.

In three new papers, researchers suggest magnetic minerals common on early Earth could have caused key biomolecules to accumulate on their surface in just one mirror image form, setting off a positive feedback that continued to favor the same form. "It's a real breakthrough," says Jack Szostak, an origin of life chemist at the University of Chicago who was not involved with the new work. "Homochirality is essential to get biology started, and this is a possible–and I would say very likely–solution."

Chemical reactions are typically unbiased, yielding equal amounts of right- and left-handed molecules. But life requires selectivity: Only right-handed DNA, for example, has the correct twist to interact properly with other chiral molecules. To get life, "you’ve got to break the mirror, or you can't pull it off," says Gerald Joyce, an origin of life chemist and president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies...

Excerpt from Science Magazine: ‘Breakthrough’ could explain why life molecules are left- or right-handed (Experiments suggest magnetic materials skewed early biomolecules), article by Robert F. Service, 13 June 2023

Change in a progressive lineal sense (1- 2- 3...) need not be the case when we employ the notion of spontaneity to an occurrence that may appear to have occurred as a separate entity from unrecognized underlying conditions. (For example, the use of three central foodstuffs in a given diet may well occur as a theme in different cultures whose peoples have not shared this information. Similar patterns can occur among people having no connections, sometimes called independently-derived ideas, inventions, etc...) In short, I am concerned with multiple numbered references combined in certain groupings which may or may not overlap and may or may not have some distinctly recognizable:

  • Face (acknowledged presence);
  • Form (such as those events, ideas, etc., which may or may not have a label to describe them);
  • or (known) Functionality in a given instance.

I try to find interconnectivities with other subjects and other patterns as a type of proofing mechanism, though the proof of an existing idea such as a fairytale is the tale itself, but not necessarily the contents of the tale. (An existing story or book of stories doesn't necessarily mean the contents are real, though the book and hence patterns within the stories can express recurring cognitive enumerations similarly found in books whose contents are based on experimental facts.) Both the Fantasy and Factual are representations of cognitive activity, though some researchers dismiss, devalue or discriminate against some pattern recurrences just because they don't like a particular genre of ideas. Listing and logging types of cognitive patterns does not mean you have to agree with the content. If you don't catalog a particular subject because you don't like it, at least record the fact that you are not including every genre of conceptualization. There are multiple types I haven't included either because I am not aware of them or I spend more time on other subject areas.

When we think of recurring patterns, let us note that the word "Trinity" or its correlates (triad, triune, tri-) were not necessarily ideas used in the past to describe a belief in three dominant gods. In fact, though we of today put multiple ideas into groups, this may not have been the conscious orientation of those in the past. Hence, the words themselves which reference particular types of groups are a phenomena of later human thinking. It is of need to point the patterns we of today are using as cognitive orientations to see whether they will persist with the same Labels or at least the same patterning, as humanity moves into the future. If our ideas are tied to changes in our physiology that is changing in accord with the decrease in resources which are tied to the incremental deteriorations of the Sun- Earth- Moon Triplex, we need to understand in which ways and the amounts, as a predictive tool for making adjustments in terms of survival.

Another "Enumerative Combinatorics" definition I came across is as follows, (with the associated commentary):

Besides its uses in mathematical investigations, [combinatorial analysis] not only enables us to form our ideas of the elegant compositions of design, but to contemplate the prodigious variety which constitutes the beauties of nature, and which arises from the combinations of objects, by their number, forms, colour, and positions. It has a relation to every species of useful knowledge upon which the mind of man can be employed. —Nicholson (1818, p. i)

Discrete mathematics is a broad and active field of study that is highly relevant in the age of computing and information technology. Combinatorics is a subfield of discrete mathematics, though many use the two terms interchangeably. An abundance of definitions of combinatorics have been suggested by mathematicians over the past three and a half centuries (cf. Pak, 2013), though the field itself can be traced back over three millennia, particularly to ancient China and India (cf. Wilson & Watkins, 2013). While there is no agreed-upon definition of combinatorics, Wilson’s "loose" description of combinatorics provides sufficient insight into the field for the purposes of this dissertation. For Wilson, combinatorics may be conceptualized as "the branch of mathematics concerned with selecting, arranging, constructing, classifying, and counting or listing things" (p. 1)...

("A Cognition-Based Analysis of Undergraduate Students’ Reasoning about the Enumeration of Permutations" by Joseph E. Antonides, B.A., M.M.S., Ohio State University.)

...In the West, combinatorics may be considered to begin in the 17th century with Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, both of France, who discovered many classical combinatorial results in connection with the development of the theory of probability. The term combinatorial was first used in the modern mathematical sense by the German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in his Dissertatio de Arte Combinatoria ("Dissertation Concerning the Combinational Arts"). ["combinatorics." (2013). Encyclopædia Britannica.]


Note: To me, Discrete Mathematics should be viewed as a subfield (child) of Combinatorics (Parent). It should also be noted that "Enumerative Combinatorics", because of its reliance on the Mathematical scheme of dualities, limits its users to conceptualize in accord with this directive. In Mathematics, every illustration of perception must be described within a binary framework (Just like ancient Chinese intellectuals of old referencing reality within a dual yin/yang model of conceptualization even though there was an attempted sojourn into tri-partition by way of the I-Ching triads (which are actually Byads) and the present day attempt to secure a trinary computer code from the widely used binary one by developing a quantum computer); and prevents the user from proposing a non-dichotomous form of Mathematics; though the usual one-upmanship efforts typically involve some multiplicative effort such as advancing the view of quadratics or polygons, and yet we still see a reliance on a "two" idea while the 3-patterned "3- 4- 5 ensemble" is an overlooked cognitive recurrence in multiple other interests outside the domain of mathematics. Because mathematics is a "2"-centered instrument of cognitive activity that is worshipped by some as a Queen (or other royalty) of human conceptualization, we have a situation where no one is stating the obvious about the King not having any clothes on.


Let us take for example a definition of polygon so as to point out the patterns-of-two used in its description:

  • (Two as a type of parallel): In geometry, any closed curve consisting of a set of line segments (sides) connected such that no two segments cross.
  • (Three as an ensemble): The simplest polygons are triangles (3 sides), quadrilaterals (4 sides), and pentagons (5 sides). [3-4-5 ensemble]
  • (Two as a dichotomy): If none of the sides, when extended, intersects the polygon, it is a convex polygon; otherwise it is concave.
  1. A polygon with all sides equal is equilateral.
  2. One with all interior angles equal is equiangular.
  3. Any polygon that is both equilateral and equiangular is a regular polygon (e.g., equilateral triangle, square).

A Two-Patterned idea due to Mathematics

Ideas which are generated by those who rely heavily on a Mathmatics with its underlying two-patterned thinking requirement, may well create ideas of "mirror-imaging" and "parallelism" which are likewise two-patterned designed and use such a Mathematics to defend their position— that multiple others accept as a fact because they too have not only been taught to accept Mathematics as a "Queen" of thinking logically because of its pushed-on-the-public education requirement, even though logic is often described in a three-patterned format. Because such individuals are not familiar with the idea of contrasting the underlying 2-based pattern of mathematics against a widespread 3-based ideological presence being largely overlooked, the view that "intelligent extra-terrestrials" will be able to readily communicate with humanity in terms of the present model of Mathematics is an absurdity due to movie script writers who have not seriously understood what a "Rule of Three" paradigm actually means, though they may be aware of this as a writer's and speaker's slogan.

Those being taught Mathematics are not shown that it is a two-patterned frame of thinking which strives to obtain some three model, but that both the dualities and triplicities are composites we can perceive in all other subjects where mathematical symbols are not necessarily being used. For example, we can see humans in different centuries thinking in terms of multiplicities, singularities, dualities, triplicities, and a few other recurring patterns that have been set aside, in certain instances by future peoples. For example, we of today don't use a base 5, base 20 or base 60 in our mathematics, but they were used in the past. Likewise, those in the past did not use many acknowledged "three" patterns but we of today do. While the number 7 was a big deal in the past, it is not so much today, though it occurs in several instances of scientific interest such as the 7 colors of the color spectrum and in crystallography. Everyone is thinking in some model of mathematics though they most often do not use condensed and abbreviated (mathematical) symbology. Whereas most people "show their work", most people do not actively view expressions and activities as an exercise in mathematical-like representations, to the point of using the word "mathematics" as the dominant theme of description when mathematics is merely a central topic of the present age and needs to be replaced with that which is more definitive of human activity and thinking. The present "two"-based Mathematics can only take humanity so far. Extra-terrestrials may already being using it and thus don't want to make contact because humanity's thinking is too crued.

Students are not taught to think about how humans think as recurring patterns beneath all the idea, emotions, activities, and combinations thereof. Thinking about thinking in terms of a vocabulary of words or ideas is not the same as identifying recurring basic patterns stripped of their outer garmets, though linguistics attempts to do this with words but does not attempt to correlate their findings with other subjects and basic environmental patterns which are undergoing changes such as the Sun burning out and enlarging, the Earth's rotation slowing (and its faster spin in the past), along with the presence of the Moon moving away. In some instances correlations are a stretch of the imagination that many so-called professionals (not to mentio everyday people) will not accept and may even be violently opposed to such notions. Nonetheless, we need to keep them around as references, though in the current form may be very crude and contain incorrect labels.

Very few people actively discuss the presence of mathematical (arithmetical/counting) activity taking place in conversations, ideas and other behavioral activities... (except for some detectives who look for inter-activities that they apply a geometry called an "M.O." [Modus Operandi: Mode of Operation]) though if they do, the word "mathematics" is used to suggest some superior model of thinking when it is merely just another buzz word much like "God" in religious topics, or "money" in economic topics, "Champion" in sports, etc... Whereas a psychologist may have been trained or has an intuitive ability to recognize a person's behavior as a schematic of conceptualization or behavioral responses to given situations— and they work on the gist or fringes of utilizing personal experiences and knowledge based on a condensed and symbolized model of understanding in order to make corrective interventions, their working insights may not have recognized the arithmetical (algorithmic) framework they work with in deciphering the mathematical (or simple numerological) activity a given person is living with (a given word, phrase or activity may have an associated number value derived from a personalized equation).

If a math teacher sees a student's math efforts are stuck (equivalent to a behavioral hang-up) or that their math formula is deviating from that which is expected (equivalent to behavioral and/or a cognitive "distortion" of reality due to age-inappropriateness, rebelliousness, illusion/delusion/psychosis...), they can better assist a student to make adjustments to their thinking, even if it requires repetitious exercises, using peer teaching, developing student specific analogies, altering test structures, etc... And yet, how does one do this if an entire culture, an entire nation, or a government– if it is using a type of thinking that is equivalent to the "creative accounting" methods of an embezzling accountant... or multiple accountants? Very often some form of conflict or social upheaval is instigated, such as the Bush family making a fortune off of the Savings and Loan Fiasco, or the "accidental" burning of Military records, or the laughable Weapons of Mass Destruction idiocy in the Gulf wars, or the toppling of sky scrapers during the 9-11 events (or incredulous attack on a "sitting duck" Pentagon), or an orchestrated pandemic based on inter-government collusions, or an assassination, or a government supported (rigged) lottery system and rigged voting system, or Ponzi-schemed Social Security system... etc...

The point to be made is that while Mathematicians show their work for other Mathematicians to see; none of them are recognizing that their subject field of interest is a monumental bias which has affected/effected/infected multiple ideas to exhibit some semblance of the same bias in words, actions and ideological considerations which very often try to 'excel' (equivalent to completing an equation). When all of them share the same delusion, no effective change in Mathematics can take place. There is so much repetition taking place that it is considered a normalcy and not a hang-up. They don't see mathematics as part of the cognitive trail humanity has been repeating over and over and over again like a circuitous route. It is like they are all bipolar thinking people that advocate a New Mathematics based on (bipolarized) Embellished dualities exhibiting some other-than-two patterned model. Let us move away from this pattern-of-two orientation and look at patterns-of-three:

Book of three logo for Michael Eck's site of threes ideas

Book of Threes


Hegel and the Trinity

C.S. Pierce: Triadism

The Terror of Threes in the Heavens and on Earth



Mathias Sager.com
Awareness Intelligence
Fitter – Kinder – Wiser


Mathias Sager's tripartite world psychology and art
A Tripartite World
three teeth is the dominant recurrence
brian swimme, the third story
The Third Story

The Three Stories of the Universe framework categorizes three types of worldview:

  • First Story: Worldviews rooted in myth and ritual prevailing before the scientific revolution.
  • Second Story: Worldviews built on deterministic laws, a random universe, and the ideal of technological control from the scientific revolution to the present.
  • Third Story: Worldviews combining the First Story’s sense of purpose with the universalizable applications and laws of the Second Story.


The Enormous Tree(3) — Numberphile

An example of threes illustrated in psychology
Persistent Dichotomies pg 1


Omne Trium Perfectum
Three may really be the charm.
article by Steve Dayan, MD Advancement in Human Culture image

Ideation. In the world of human culture, all significant advancement occurs where three different fields of thought overlap to birth a new movement, initiative, or idea. This concept, whether conscious or not, is the method by which most of history's greatest thought leaders have advanced science, business, and the arts. It is at the intersection between the three overlapping circles where fertile ideas congregate, consort, and are conceived.

Elvis didn't create Rock'n'Roll, but when he combined the following 3 elements, his music found an audience of millions:

  • rhythm and blues,
  • good ol' boy values, and 
  • hip-shaking sexual overtones,

Steve Jobs didn't create a better computer, but he combined the following 3 qualities; he arguably gave birth to the world's most valuable company—Apple computers:

  • superior electrical engineering,
  • attractive and creative design, and 
  • fantastic user experiences,

Martin Luther King, Jr. didn't create a better protest movement, but when he combined the following three aspects, an all-encompassing, highly effective civil rights movement transcending himself and the vehicle it came in on was birthed, adopted, and supported:

  • non-violent civil disobedience,
  • religious themes, and 
  • “All men are created equal,”

Einstein famously combined the following 3 ideas to bring forth one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time:

  • energy,
  • mass, and
  • speed of light

The lesson in this reasoning is, if wanting to give life to a new idea, business initiative, or movement, there is a greater likelihood of success if combining three different fields of thought. Don't just make a better toaster oven but combine it with a cream cheese spreader and a microwave to develop something new and previously unknown.

This site is about ideas, activities, and assorted occurrences which express some model of a "three-pattern," all of which is sometimes referred to as the "threes phenomena". And yet, this alone is not enough. One must also be engaged in providing a consideration as to the development thereof (in the context or absence of other enumerations which may not use numerical symbols and instead uses number words, interval sound patterns, vibration patterns (such as when one atomic particle hits another though a physicist may not be monitoring such oscillating permutations), spatial geometries, dots-dashes-spaces, etc.). For example, did the advent of the "three" follow along a sequential development such as from a one to a two and then a three, or is the occurrence (in all or some instances) a mutation of thought processing... though some like to extend this to some model of multiplicity, where the word "plurality" becomes confused with or used as a substitute for the suppositional words "possibility, potentiality or probability".

However, the topic of plurality is an interesting one because one might view it as having three General forms:

  1. The much, more, many, "a few" or "some" or "a bunch" type of plurality. (The absence of any enumeration at all.)
  2. The "more than two" (2 or more) or "more than three" (3 or more) or "more than four" (4 or more) models of plurality.
  3. The Infinity, Universe, "forever" (Eternity) variety of plurality. (An attempt to think beyond enumeration.)
    • Let us note that the symbol for infiinty is like a mirror-imaged "3" layed on its side: (∞)
      [or described as a circular "E" and a "3" placed face -to- face.]

While it seems counter-intuitive to suggest that a non-enumerated conceptual model of plurality preceded conceptual models of enumeration, this may in fact be what took place. Cognitive enumeration values can be exposed unconsciously, semi-consciously, as well as consciously. While one might venture to apply these as being (respectively) synonymous with those enumerations which occur in dreams, by way of slips of the tongue, or purposely..., such expressions have not undergone any extensive studies (to my present knowledge), other than in the efforts of those who propose some numerological significance pertaining to an individual's separate life concern, which might be augmented by some leaning towards an interest in the Zodiac, Paganism, Witchcraft, Wicca-ism, or lesser known practice where symbols are used as unconscious enumerations... very often being hawked by those wanting someone to make a purchase from them. Aside from this, interests in cognitive enumeration patterns appear only in personalized attentions given to a individual's individual day -to- day orientations such as when engaged in making a purchase, balancing a checkbook, configuring a lottery number grouping, how many pages to be read before bedtime, how many repetitions of a given exercise routine, the repeating numbers one thinks occurs on a clock and some proposed significance thereof, etc... But such a task of studying enumerations of cognitive activity has not been applied to the history of life, history of humanity, the whole of different subjects, including those events reported by journalists; not to mention an absence of references to how many television news programs contain a recurring set of commentators. Parallels of enumeration occur across subject materials, with little effort being advocated in this direction thanks to the disparaging comments made by Mathematicians and Psychologists in regard to studies of enumeration. Forget about seeking out a research grant or signing up for a University course concerning this topic. If money or other resource potential is not quickly seen and easily understood, the chances are you may have to resort to some conventional model of prostituting your work in book form, or other pay-wall or subscription enterprise.

It not only is necessary to map out where humanity is in its present day uses of enumeration patterns or (seemingly) lack thereof, because we might be able to eventually discern which trail(s) it took to get here and what trail(s) it may be forced to take due to being subjected to dwindling resources, pandemics, wars, economic upheavals, social discord, etc... Whereas we might say that the ubiquity of two-patterns and three-patterns have a dominance in multiple situations suggesting a stability of humanity's overall cognitivity of enumeration, can we be assured this will continue? For example, while many ancient peoples reserved the number seven (7) as being of significance and applied it to different social constructs, this supposed sacred significance has not played out in multiple subjects. Patterns-of-two and patterns-of-three have, where parallels can be found in basic (serious) investigations into primary Natural processes, such as physics and biology, with mathematics being used in multiple cases as an etch-a-sketch forum of reductionism via symbols, and does not customarily provide a definitive tool by which more insightful paths of inquiry wait to be treasured and awarded with a Nobel Prize. Mathematics is very often used as a requirement of expression like a group of old scholars who won't give credit to an idea until it is conveyed in Latin during some convened ceremony presided over by an authoritative body which expects the membership to don a particularized hooded robe and chant in unison. Hail the clan of the Cave Bear, Masonic lodge, or Knights of the guiding light! Yet, it is doubtful that most members come to consider an alternative meaning to any writing on a sacred Bear skin, particularly if the cave walls are written on by way of a emblem with three mottos. It is not typical for someone to read a motto and decipher it as a symbolic reference to a recurring cognitive enumeration.

E Pluribus Unum, Out of Many, One.

The "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of Many, One) of the U.S. Presidential seal takes on a different sort of meaning when contrasted with its usage as an example of a 3 -to- 1 ratio (where the "3" is represented by the word "Many" in reference to primitive counting schemes which are thought to have had the three number values of "1- 2- Many"). Nonetheless, we can find analogies such as the idea that the enclosed cells of life forms (with their definitive quantity of internal parts such as the golgi complex, mitochondria, centrioles, etc...), were at one time part of a much larger array of items that did not come together in a similar manner to wandering groups of human nomads that banded together (while excluding others) to form an enclosed community as a survival or other type of necessitated measure. Historically earlier biological constructs such as RNA and DNA (or bacteria and viruses) may have had less of a choice because there were fewer nomads to cull together and the environmental conditions under which they met may have exposed them to more intense circumstances such as a faster spinning Earth, which would account for the dominant direction of spin that amino acids exhibit (called chirality); not to mention the accelerated occurrences of the night/day sequence and the stroboscopic effect of the Sun's three phases ("moments") known as dawn- noon- dusk, and further more not to also mention the increased (tidal) washing machine effect of the Moon being closer to Earth.

3 types of cells

Adenovirus and constituent parts

There is no plurality nor multiplicity of constituent parts in cells, bacteria or viruses, though the circumstances under which they were created may have afforded them 'multiple more' options that were whittled down under conditions which forced a conservation... a limited number of parts, like a life raft only able to hold so many people. (Interestingly, with respect to the cell wall or covering, we can see single, double and triple walled "rafts", similar to those which are manufactured today for human occupants.)

While one may at first claim a listing of "threes" as a coincidence and then later say that it's numerology, a further antagonism might be indicated by claiming the person is engaging in an obsessive/compulsive activity. However, we might say this about any collection or interest. Though a reader might reflexively want to claim there are other number patterns of interest such as 2s, 7's, 13's etc., we need also to note the absence of such numbers and the recurrence of patterns which repeat in subject matter that is of a more serious nature. You can't simply list a bunch of threes examples from a single subject such as religious triads, or musical group trios, or three-part expressions, etc., and expect such a list to be a representative model of definitive human cognitive activity, when there are obviously other patterns. It may be of interest for you personally, just as Hegel was fond of partitioning ideas into groups of three, but there is a need... and for me, an intellectual requirement for addressing any given pattern in the context of other enumerations (as well as non-enumerations), and the lack thereof as well. While you may think you see the "3" in a similar fashion that Batman saw his insignia projected onto clouds by a searchlight, but this only means you look for such an emblem under frequently cloudy skies that Gotham city must have had in order to make such a searchlight a viable means of communication in a dark and gloomy social environment where the dichotomy of good and evil could be accentuated for a story line.

  1. Planetary life Triplex: Sun- Earth- Moon
  2. 3 solar-influenced deity configurations/correlations:
    1. The Sun itself as a singularly important object; One god concept and humans as having been hermaphroditic in the past. (This is where the idea of "soul mate" appears to have originated.)
    2. The Sun with a two-patterned night/day sequence; complementary, complimentary, antagonistic pairs (also soul mates in the later sense of a prime partnership).
    3. The Sun with three phases/moments; dawn- noon- dusk... trinity, triad, triune... (which are "fusing" due to the slowing of the Earth's rotation and the enlargement of the Sun as it deteriorates. Hence, a "3 -in- 1" ratio is taking place.)
  3. The Earth being the 3rd planet (as counted from the Sun, if counted from Pluto, it is the 7th planet).
  4. DNA/RNA having a triplet code. 3 forms/kinds commonly cited: DNA- A,B,Z; RNA- Messenger, Ribosomal, Transfer.
    • Each of them contains the same 3 amino acids: Adenosine- Cytosine- Guanine, with separate singulars— Thymine:DNA/Uracil:RNA, thus revealing a 3 -to- 1 ratio.)
  5. 3 families of fundamental atomic particles/3 Quarks and 3 anti-Quarks. (A conservation of number exists involving fractions based on thirds, though half-charges are present.)
  6. 3 laws of motion./ 3 laws of planetary motion.
  7. 3-part sectioning in human anatomy by Dr. John McNulty and Associates.
  8. 3-part ear structure (astonishingly) unrecognized by Linguists and language theorists: Language 3 (What might our language and thoughts look like if the ear had a different dominant pattern?)
  9. 3 Germ Layers: Endoderm- Mesoderm- Ectoderm
  10. 3 Life Domains: Archaea- Bacteria- Eukaryota
  11. 3 recurring components of word order supposedly in all languages [not necessarily in this order]: (Subject- Object- Verb)
  12. 3 exceptions to the Octet (8) rule in Chemistry:
    • Molecules with an odd number of electrons.
    • Molecules with one or more atoms less than an octet.
    • Molecules with one or more atoms more than an octet.

In the historical development of a "pattern-of-three" usage, one can easily be drawn into the view that it arose out of a previous two-patterned usage and that the "2" arose from a one-patterned thinking activity. However, there appears to be a widespread usage of plurality which was initially focused on such as in the case of religious pantheons. For example, many stars were seen before humans began to scrutinize distinct Zodiac and other patterns. Something forced humans to begin thinking in conservative terms by way of creating a means by which observations could be grouped. Let us not forget that the numbers 1, 2, 3 are separate groupings, just as much as they are a group when placed together, and referred to as a "set" in mathematics. Sets-of-three occur widely, being distributed in serious 3-person research contexts, amusing cartoon trios, generalized clothing sizes, in food, etc... For example, with respect to the 1 god idea, which was advanced by the desert dwelling Jews (albeit they did not speak too loudly or aggressively because of the then prevailing dominant orientation of having multiple gods by larger over-zealous groups in the same area who might take offense); let us not forget they were a nomadic people that grouped together long before they designated themselves as Jews— and were a group that longed for a territory to call their own because they convinced themselves they were a chosen people of their (chosen) 1 god who deserved a chosen land and a chosen type of worldly respect which exists today. It was and remains a shared egotism so very characteristic of not only religions but multiple other venues like science, math, theater, sports, business, politics, etc...


Big Mac Sociology

While it may be humorous to some readers to put the rather ubiquitous Big Mac as an iconic reference to a prevailing cognitive pattern involving the mental sociological architecture of our present age, the following image taken from a Birthday greeting card can be added to my rather off-beat (non-typical) anthropological leaning:


The Sociology of the Police Line-up

While the cartoonish caption can be viewed as a humorous take on the reality of occurrences, it doesn't describe to the viewer that the topic of the Pinata as being borrowed from the Mexican culture supplanted onto the US soil, nor does it tell the tale of how a culture may be inclined to adopt professional investigations using one or another standard cognitive enumeration. The fact that the illustrator used the value of "3" and not some other value, is expressly important when we include the following image of an actual line-up:

Actual Police Line-up

(In both images we see attention being brought to the third position by having the numbers lower than the others. In the case of using five people in a lineup, much like having five fingers, the third position garners attention as if one is jutting out the third/middle finger. In both cases the criminals are being given prominent positions of being the "odd man out". If a lineup is being held in a Native American culture which uses a commonality of "four" (as described by some Cultural Anthropologists), then placing a person in this position might well serve to solidify a policing unit's desire to get someone convicted if the victim is of the same culture and inclination to prefer the so-called "4" value.)

Upon seeing the same numerical value being used in an actual Police line-up, the idea of cognitive bias may or may not come to mind. Placing someone in a 3rd spot or with a number 3 could well be viewed as making the person stand out, unless a victim has a preference for another number and that value is then used to give the officer or administrator in charge a control-the-outcome tool. Whether it is done intentionally or unconsciously, the fact that a group of people can be lined-up in a given way so that a recurring inclination of choice will provide a conviction, invites opposition to the argument that the three types of line-up are conducted fairly and without any cognitive bias.

  • Photographs of suspects.
  • Videos of suspects.
  • Physically present lineups.

Here's a third Lineup example culled from season 1 disc 4 episode "Leave it to Beavers" of the Grimm Television series. The Perpetrator in question is the person in the middle and the eye witness told the two detectives it was the 3rd person from the right. While the expression may not cause the reader to recall that Indo-Europeans tend to read and write from the left -to- the right and Islamic countries from right -to- left— despite the United Kingom and others driving on the left side of the road while multiple other countries drive on the right side; one must wonder why the script writer chose this expression for the actor to recite. While there may be multiple other examples of similar lineups occurring with past television shows and movies, not to mention books which may include details of a lineup; a script writer who comes across these examples may intentionally adopt another lineup pattern which needs to be taken into consideration for future researchers of cognitive enumerations which will no doubt be expanded beyound the corral of these early years of "threes" research.

3rd Person from the right

While the wikipedia article on Lineups describes those who have examined the possible good and bad characteristics of police lineups and how they can be used to favor the inclination of corrupt police officers, what you don't see is a discussion involving cognitive enumeration studies. If you line up a person in the 3rd position from the left or right and unknowingly (or knowingly) do this because discussions with a victim can identify what enumeration pattern they have a preference for (even if they are not consciously aware of it); then the deck can be stacked, so to speak, when a line-up is conducted in a manner similar to how a person might arrange cards in their hand. A detective cued into cognitive enumeration inclinations may well view criminals as having a preference for dualities (their world-view is dichotomized in the sense of good guy/bad guy, rich/poor, strong/weak, smart/dumb, etc...), but many an everyday person has a preference for some other pattern such as triplicities (instead of black/white they include grey, instead of stop/go they include pause or caution, instead of yes/no they include maybe, etc...). Knowing this behavior can help them if they hone it as a skill.

Despite ideas on The Correct Way to Conduct Lineups, Human Cognitive Enumeration studies are lacking.

Typically, however, there are no in-depth enumeration studies but there are multiple superficial ones such as those conducted by cultural anthropologists who cite cultural preferences of number, and are rather dismissive of any further effort from a different vantage point because multiple superficial accounts are interpreted as wholly sufficient and definitive, particularly if the account is from some well-known member of the Anthropological or Sociological or Psychological clans. However, such efforts do not commonly include origination studies involving the history of mathematics, enumerations expressed in biology or physics, or multiple other subjects; though they may mention numbers in terms of superstition as it is employed by Numerologists and Religions... all the while thinking they are being unbiased and comprehensive in their accounting of cultural uses of enumeration. Actual Enumeration studies such as the this site's fledgling efforts are commonly attacked by both Mathematicians and Psychologists as representing an exercise in Numerology.

They just don't get it because they have been schooled to think in a culturally cognitive biased way about how numbers are to be viewed, used and studied. Whereas it is ok to think of number patterns in the context of Mathematics or the Stock Market, or Actuarial tables, or accounting ledgers or balancing one's check book, or in a religious context, or a musical theory context... but to do so on a broader venue involving multiple subject areas in a non-typical way, is sacrilegious to what they think is the correct way of thinking. Heaven forbid anyone thinking differently than that which supports the views of the status quo or the overall view of most professionals who generally limit their interest to the context of the venue in which they have carved a socially viable niche. Shame on you if you don't use them as your role model of how, when, where, why and what to think about. While it is alright to be different, even superior, you must do so in already established social enclaves being taught in money making ventures, or military armament manufacturing, or the LGBTQ nonsense, or the Black vs. White Lies Matter circus, or in academic institutions, etc., the latter being now more interested in making a buck than instilling the need for students to think independently, though it was previously focused on emphasizing the glorification of some believed-in god's wondrous Universality. Blazing new trails is ok so long as you commit yourself to being tethered by some formal agreement that whatever you come up with is to be owned... or at least controlled by patriotism, morality, contract, respect, affiliation or some other convention which wants to exploit your creation, like professors getting ideas off of students without giving them credit, or the government having learned how to conduct a profitable business from organized crime activities, or much in the manner that early religions adopted popular "pagan" ideas but renamed and refashioned them to make them appear to be original constructions and not some copycat rendition.

During some occasions you many not be able to easily uncover a "1" pattern example such as in the case of the Three Germ layers (labeled Ectoderm- Mesoderm- Endoderm or in worded number terms as Triploblastic [3]- Diploblastic [2]- "Monoploblastic" [1]... even though the word "Monoploblastic" is not typically used in biological discussions). While there are extant examples of two and three germ layer life forms, a one-germ layer life form may or may not be limited to the idea of sponges (which are animals). In any case, we have multiple instances of the "2" pattern with varying labels such as dichotomy, duality, pairing, binary, dyad, etc... And though we might list several examples of ideas which exhibit dualities, the person doing so might not include associations involving patterns-of-three, variously labeled as triples, triads, trinities, ternary, etc... In some instances you may come across someone who discounts the presence of twos by emphasizing threes, and then another person who discounts the threes by claiming the existence of an abundance of fours (variously described as quads, quadrilineals, quartet, etc...) Such a researcher doesn't put the overall "2-3-4" range of considerations into a group, nor view it as a type of distinct three-patterned cognitive ensemble. For example, one person might speak of three dimensions and another speak of four dimensions (the 3 spatial plus time), while still another may speak of multiple dimensions as if they are engaged in a continuing social game-manship requiring a participation in an ever-present one-upmanship contest; yet none of them are grouping these separate ideas together... whereby they overlook the cognitive ensemble of a pattern-of-three taking place in a given language culture— not to mention its presence in grammar and writing such as ending a sentence with a period, a question mark or an exclamation point in the context of an essay or story involving an emphasized Heading, Body, and Ending.

Instead of stepping back to get some perspective, most people apparently jump into the fray as if being sucked into a whirlpool of social activity. We have separate people providing different views about the dimensions we live in, yet none of them are grouping all the ideas into a three-patterned {3-4-"Many"} dimensions array. It is a cognitive landscape they have not blazed a trail into. Whereas they may be familiar with the "1-2-Many" grouping sometimes assigned to primitive humans in their efforts to create a rudimentary counting system, they don't think of allowing the "many"... the idea of multiplicity (plurality) to occur in sequentially different stages with or without numerical references such as: 1-2-many, 2-3-many, 3-4-many, 4-5-many, 5-6-many, etc... Even though we can find multiple instances where plurality (many, much, more, bunch, etc...) is designated as being more than two or as a "3 or more" idea, the mental hovering about this 3-patterned "2-3-4" area of consideration in different topics has not yet registered as a recurring cognitive activity, much less began to consider the reason for such as a type of consequence for an ongoing incremental planetary deterioration tied to an ever-decreasing stock of resources that biological life forms must adapt to as a survival mechanism.

If we look at the "2" as a precursor to a "3", it should be understood that a full, separated-from "3" may not be achieved. There may be what is described as a "three-pattern", but it remains attached to an underlying two-pattern, as is the case when trying to cite triplicities distinct from dualities. It is perhaps better that we describe them as transitionals or even "attempted" triplicities. As is often the case, a triplicity gets its distinction by way of an association to a duality, even if the duality is not easily recognizable. Having to decide whether a triplicity is an actual "standing on its own feet" structure, can be difficult in some situations. Nonetheless, it is helpful when mapping out human cognitive activity to provide examples of dualities and triplicities in a given context.

Yet, the question arises if dualities can have separate sources or do all arise from a common source such as philosophy, and it arises due to the nature of human physiology perceiving an environment displaying contrasts such as hot/cold, night/day, wet/dry, etc? In any respect, one might make an attempt to claim the presence of 3 prominent Dualities historically placed in human conceptualization; though I am mentioning other varieties which might be viewed as sub-categories since so many ideas take their lead from the many dualities found in Philosophy. While one might view the dualities in Western Philosophy as a sub-category of the Eastern (Asian) values... whether or not described as the yin/yang view; the argument can be made that it is a stand-alone, separately devised origination which the human brain can respectively devise in different environments in different cultures and need not have been influenced by external sources. In other words, there are occasions when the same or similar idea or activity crops up independently without there being any cross-cultural exchange of ideas. While at the moment I might say the three most dominant dualities are Philosophy, Mathematics and Music, you might prefer to cite Religion with its dualities and transitionals in addition with the primitive pluralities sometimes called pantheons. From a cognitive behavior of plurality (multiplicity) we see a later development into conservations involving three, two or one god/goddess, not necessarily adopted by everyone in the same manner or time frame. This "plurality to (→) one" cognitive activity is expressed in the U.S. Presidential slogan of "E Pluribus Unum" (out of many, one)... though I am not in any way trying to say this indicates those in the U.S. are somehow more cognitively progressive or ahead of others living elsewhere in the world. It is merely an example. For some people, the presence of dualities takes a prominent position in their thinking, but for me... it must be placed into context with other number-patterned occurrences such as the "three".

  1. Yin/Yang— (original list magnified and widely disseminated over time)... one of which is in Western Philosophy which influences multiple subject areas;
    • attempted trichotomy: Eight I-Ching triads [which are little more than embellished byads].
  2. Western Philosophy— mind/soul, body/mind, nature/nurture, Minor/Major premise, premise/conclusion, quality/quantity, moods/forms, officially/unofficially, emptiness/non-emptiness, direct reduction/indirect reduction, Categorical/Non-categorical, expansion/collapse, hypothetical/disjunctive, either/or, reality/non-reality, constructive/destructive... etc.
    • attempted trichotomy: 3-part Syllogisms... and...:
      • Thesis ~ Antithesis ~ Synthesis
      • Indulgence ~ "Middle Way" ~ Ascetism
      • Major Premise ~ Minor Premise ~ Conclusion
      • Contradiction ~ Excluded Middle ~ Identity Principal
  3. Mathematics— (see list of dichotomies here: Persistent Dichotomies I); [Note: A DUALITY-BASED MATHEMATICS CAN ONLY TAKE HUMANITY SO FAR IN ITS EFFORTS TO BE PROGRESSIVE. There is no guarantee that any advanced Extra-terrestrial sentient life form will rely on such a primitive model of Mathematics that humanity views as a superior form of concept formation. To think otherwise is an Egotism created by motion picture script writers, who like-wise portray status-quo ideas about Time travel and the childishly ludicrous notion of a Grandfather paradox; only because they think of Time as an arrow instead of as a slinky type of coiled spring walking down an UP escalator or {playfully speaking} walking up a DOWN escalator. History does not typically repeat in any identical fashion, meaning Time is not a dog chasing its own tail, nor does the supposed arrow exhibit a hoola-hoop, yo-yo or paddle-ball design.]
    • attempted trichotomy:
      • Trigonometry (sine- cosine- tangent).
      • Pythagorean theorem (A2 + B2 = C2).
      • Boolean Algebra (And- Or- Not gates used in computer language)
  4. Binary Computer Language— (series of zeros and ones referencing the on/off characteristics of an electronic circuit. A computer is sometimes referred to as a box of very fast switches.)
    • attempted Trichotomy: Quantum computers with Trinary/Ternary language.
  5. Biology— binomial classification system, anus/mouth, dark/light (plants), amino acid pairing, diploid organisms, angiosperms/gymnosperms, autopolyploids/allopolyploids, species/subspecies, etc...
    • attempted trichotomy: 3 germ layers, DNA/RNA triplet code, 3 or more sets of chromosomes [polyploidy], etc.,
  6. Physics— matter/anti-matter, strong/weak, quark/anti-quark, radioactive/non-radioactive, quarks/leptons, up/down, wave/particle, light speed/sub-light speed, atomic/sub-atomic, acceleration/braking, etc...
    • attempted trichotomy: 3 generations of increasing mass, (GUT theory: strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces), Alpha- Beta- Gamma, fulcrum- force- lever, Einstein's 1905 Trilogy, [In the atoms of alkali metals such as sodium and potassium, there are two components of fine structure (called doublets), while in atoms of alkaline earths there are three components (triplets) {Britannica: fine structure}, etc...
  7. Music— Major/Minor scales, rhythm/melody, song/dance, orchestrated/improvised, referential/non-referential, language/feeling, thought/emotion,is/is not, sharps/flats, upper/lower, dominant/subdominant, music/noise, diatonic/chromatic, tonic/supertonic, mediant/submediant, leading/misleading, (a note paired with its octave is said to be doubled), (strings on most clavichords are arranged in pairs {Britannica: keyboard instrument}), pure/impure (music (as the dance of one's mind)/dance (as the music of one's mind)), etc...
    • attempted trichotomy: major- minor- modal, rhythm- melody- harmony, Triads, [rectangular- triangular- polygonal relatives (spinet and virginal) of wing-shaped harpsichord], (Three pitches capable of sustaining the overlapping hexachords: C- F- G.), Thirds: major- minor- neutral, [cultural synthesis derived from conqueror/conquered], etc...

While on the topic of music under the heading of trichotomies, the "duple- triple- quadruple" time signature is not commonly referred to as a three-patterned ensemble of the "2-3-4" variety as a recurring cognitive theme which can only be recognized if one takes the time to collate other instances of the pattern taking place in other subjects. A short list can be found here: Devils Advocate page 14. The following images describe the music variety of the 2-3-4 triadic ensemble:

Duple, Triple, Quadruple ensemble

Images adapted from: Time Signature Types and Guide to Understanding Time Signatures

Note: what I mean by "attempted trichotomy" is that I am referring to transitionals in terms of adaptations of our human perceptions of human and external events in Nature. In many cases humanity attempts to design some "three", though that which is formulated may not be universally accepted. And for those who engage in a one-upmanship model of thinking, what can be seen is that the use of the word "plurality" (and its variants) satisfies the idea that human thought is not subject to limitation (like that of human physiology as recognized in sports records)... that there exists potential to exceed; and yet the word "potentiality" never occurs in the sequence of "monism(singularity)- dualism(duality)- pluralism", in the form: "singularity- duality- potentiality". The notion of plurality is often used as a substitute for ideas like "potential, possibility, and perhaps"; but has all too often been used to describe a presumed probability, and therefore an expectation of certainty; though the recurrence of a pattern-of-three structure used to convey this idea of a super-ordinant position awaiting to be discovered and achieved, is diminished to the status of being an everyday toothbrush, comb, brush, toilet paper or other maintenance item, and not viewed as a major cognitive tool.

The design of a particular "three" model may well be ahead of their time... or even late in developing, and not excepted because it is dressed in the clothing and hair style of an old vernacular. In some cases, the "three" may take on a name such as "triad" or Trinity, etc., because of three observed or implied elements, but actually conceals the presence of an underlying reliance on a pattern-of-two, such as in the case of the I-Ching triads. The duality of the 1-line/2-lines configuration is "embellished" with either a one or two-line addition to give the impression of an attempted true "three" model, but is in fact an 'embellished duality'. The one and two-line expressions reference the previous yin/yang associations of male and female, with the 1 line referencing the male penis and the 2-lines indicating the female vagina. Nonetheless, what we can see is an effort of human cognition attempting a "three" configuration as a reference to the changing nature of human adaptation to the incrementally deteriorating Sun and the deterioration of the Earth's rotation, causing the Sun's three phases/"moments" (dawn- noon- dusk) to fuse, to syncretize, to meld, (etc...) creating a 3-to-1 scenario. If this idea is correct, then we will seen increased instances of this as the future unveils. This makes the listing of examples of paramount value for future researchers who, with more information, may well tweak the ideas being presented, here, if not create a more definitive representation of human cognitive activity being subjected to increasing conditions of reduced resources.

  1. 3 trimesters to human pregnancy.
  2. 3-part time divisions:
    • Past- Present- Future
    • Hours- Minutes- Seconds
    • 3 Months Calendar (Previous, Present, Next)
    • 24 - 7 - 365 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year)
    • Solar day, Lunar month, Earthly year
    • Morning- Noon- Night
    • BC- CE- AD (before the Christian era, during the Christian era, after the Christian era)
  3. 3 fingers used to hold a pen or pencil (apparently) by most people.
  4. 3-part Body plans:
    • Head- Thorax- Abdomen (insects)
    • Ectomorph- Mesomorph- Endomorph (Humans)
    • Short- Average- Tall
    • Thin- Average- Thick; Skinny- Normal/Average- Fat
    • Acoelomate- Coelomate- Pseudocoelomate (animals)
    • Asymmetrical- Bilateral symmetry- Radial symmetry (animals)
    • Endosperm- Seed coat- Embryo (seeds)
    • Dwarfism- Common/average- Gigantism
  5. 3 social divisions:
    • Upper class- Middle class- Lower class (traditional classifications)
    • Priestly class- Warrior class- Worker class (Georges Dumezil's Tripartite Ideology of Indo-Europeans)
    • Queen- Drone- Worker (Insects such as bees, ants, termites)
    • Manager- Assistant manager- Third man (used in retail stores)
    • Master- Journeyman- Apprentice (guilds)
    • Orient- Africa- Occident (3 geographical distributions of 2 races [Asian- African- Caucasian])
    • 1st place (Gold Olympic medal)- 2nd place (Silver medal)- 3rd place (Bronze medal)
  6. 3 recurring screen options placed on the upper right hand corner of computers: Minimize - Maximize - Close
  7. 3 options are optimal for Multiple Choice Questions.
  8. 3 dominant ways of eating food:
    1. 3... with one or more utensils (knife-fork-spoon).
    2. 2... with 2 chop sticks.
    3. 1... with one's hands, (such as for example the use of three fingers (in some Islamic settings) [instead of using utensils as tools, suggesting an anthropologically distinct primivity.].
  9. etc... (for example:) 3 colors on stop lights (green- yellow- red); 3 branches to government (Executive- Legislative- Judicial, U.S.); 3 Military divisions (Air force, Army, Navy (includes Marines); 3 University degrees (Doctorate, Masters, Bachelors); 3-day exercise routines (e.g. Mon. Wed. Fri.); Verb tenses: Ring- Rang- Rung; word genders: Masculine- Feminine- Neuter; ...

One can not suggest the possible importance of a given pattern (number or otherwise), if they are not responsibly attuned to the presence of other patterns. For example, Astronomers frequently speak of Binary star systems, but not Trinary, Quaternary, etc., star systems. Hence, it is of value to make note of the absence of a "three" pattern in this respect and wonder why. Is is due to the language culture of Astronomy, our lack of being able to see more distance systems which may contain a dominant presence of trinary star systems, or is it because our presence in the present time period represents a relatively young Universe sector from our Evolutionary perspective?

In short... yes, I am aware of other patterns. And no, I am not interested in using the 3s idea to promote any religion, racial, or particular philosophical review other than that which I am ascribing at the moment related to an incremental deterioration of the Sun- Earth- Moon triplex. Different people approach their own threes-related research from their individual interests, though some who utilize a "threes" orientation are not necessarily even aware they are engaging in a perspective of thinking which has a wider berth of application and presence in our lives. I provide three examples of others engaged in some aspect of the "threes" phenomena before introducing a short list I have compiled. I will add a few more from "time to time... as time" permits.


While it is of interest for some readers to adapt a model of a "three" design to their ideas in an effort to assume some advantage over one or more others, it is clear that many who do are not even aware of their "threes" usage. In other words, they are oblivious to their usage thereof and in fact may be faced with a stumbling block if they engage in an analytical dissection thereof. Some may use a "three" pattern instinctively while others need to enforce a usage thereof since they may be inclined to the usage of one or more other patterns such as dichotomies. For example, did any of the previously noted historical figures actually know they were using three items in their efforts? Or is this assessment merely due to a later observation by someone else's interest in such a pattern? In some cases while you may view a person engaging in the usage of a three-pattern, they may actually think they are using some alternative association. In other words, how many "threes" (and other patterns) are a cosmetic of the mind induced by culture and not some actual underlying environmentally induced imposition? For example, is the presence of all patterns due to some underlying physics, astronomy, biology, or planetary geometry if not sociological dynamic? Indeed, why do some people become more cognitively aware of pattern usage and repetition while others appear to be functionally ignorant thereof? No less, why is humanity engaging in the use of a conservation of number... if it is not due to some survival mechanism on a deteriorating planetary system?

Is the "three" pattern a cognitive cosmetic adopted and adapted from one generation to the next or does it express something more fundamental in terms of (for example) illuminating a tree-ring type of indicator with respect to dwindling planetary, galactic... if not the greater cosmological stock of resources? When far too many of us are taking a survey of the recurrence of "threes" and other patterns in terms of individual appeal to our specific individual survival interests, how are we to identify it as having a larger application of meaning if we continue to engage in culturally created superficialities?

With respect to the 3rd molars (aka the wisdom teeth), it appears that they were of great value in ancestral primate forms for chewing tougher foods, but that there has been a trend for their absence {agenesis of the 3rd molar} and routine removal or that they fall out on their own. Philosophically/metaphysically speaking the "loss or absence of the third" can be viewed in terms of absorption as well. In other words, a 3rd idea that fuses with another is lost to perception for those unable to recognize that a fusion has taken place. For example... if the 3 moments/phases of the Sun [dawn- noon- dusk] have influenced multiple genetic, physiological and psychological patterns-of-three {such as the Christian Trinity from its Pagan past of solar worship}, the ongoing degradation of the Sun along a path of enlargement will cause the three moments/phases to "fuse" together; [coupled with the slowing rate of the Earth's rotation]. As a further correlation, the fact that the 3rd molars erupt in the human mouth between the ages of 20 and 23, this time period can be viewed as hours and correlated with the genesis of pre-humans when they began their trek when the rotation rate of the Earth was faster. While many a cook knows that the rotation of a blender has an effect on what they are developmentally preparing; this simple idea does not sink into the formative brain cells of scientists, even though they may use a centrifuge and set it at different speeds. Why do intelligent people often act as educated idiots?

A 2rd Set Of Teeth: ...Katsu Takahashi, lead researcher and head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, told Mainichi. "We’re hoping to see a time when tooth regrowth medicine is a third choice alongside dentures and implants." By targeting the USAG-1 gene, researchers believe that they can help people without a full set of teeth regrow teeth. The (research) team says that humans have a third set of teeth available as buds, ready to grow as needed. Following up on a 2021 study (published in Scientific Reports) that showed how medicine targeting the protein synthesized by the USAG-1 gene could impact the number of teeth grown in animals, the team has turned its attention to humans. They’ve announced a 2024 clinical trial of the medicine, which they in turn hope to have ready for general use in 2030. (Third Set of Teeth)


Earth's Rotation Rate correlated to life's Development
example of rotation rate specificities and life's development

(You will not find this idea on any conventional geologic time scale mainly because no one thought of it.)

For those who think the content is too small to read
3 Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

A short and much abbreviated timeline on threes development

Steroidal Tree examples

*"8" was previously used for the mono-nucleotide reference in the above triplet code sequence of evolution instead of the conventional "4" to suggest evolution in the biological sense may not have begun until some rudimentary singularity, pairing or triplicity had taken place. The conventional "4 -16 - 64" idea is based on the present day usage of 20 amino acids (as a model of mathematical logic) which may not have existed in the deep past. Only a triplet code satisfies the present day usage of the 20. Singlet and doublet codes are too small, but may not have been so for life's fledgling stages in terms of biological functionality.

Due to design and operation of the Wankel engine, I have referred to it as having 3 strokes, though other (I will assume out of mimicry), are inclined to repeat the disposed notion of it having four strokes like a "normal/regular" engine.


Separate lists for multiple threes occurrences

Here's a small collection of T-shirts exhibiting a 3-patterned slogan. And yes, I know there are T-shirts with shorter and longer slogans, which... if this is the model of Categorization we use, we have a Less than three- More than three- Exactly three.


Examples of shirts with a three-patterned slogan

I can't tell you how many times I have gone into stores to purchase this or that tool, all the while observing the different types of sets, one of which is the triple-tool set. You can purchase single-item tools, sometimes two tools such as hammers, pliers, etc., and three-item tool sets. While there are 4 and more quantity sets, I will place all of them into a single category which provides us with a similar cognitive usage found in other subjects. For example, when we look at religion we see the idea of "one" expressed in the concept of a single god or Monotheism. In the past we can pay witness to divine couples or pairs (complimentary or antagonistic to one another). There are of course numerous examples of three in the form of trinities, triunes and triads. After which we encounter the notion of multiple gods variously described as polytheism, pantheon, multiplicity, etc... And yes, there is overlapping, regression as well as mixing and matching, but the underlying counting theme remains and appears to be cyclical. It's a wonder to me why people buy into the idea of a single god when there could be multiple entities just as easily. Then again, if we adhere to science such as particle physics, the idea of three families of fundamental particles would appear to be an example of an idea to support a similar philosophical approach to combat the Egotistically produced Monotheism.


Tool sets in groups of three

List of threes from Dante's Inferno
Dante's use of threes in the Inferno

In the foregoing list of threes from Dante's Inferno (a list submitted by Richard Williams), the authors of the list also make reference to a "3 plus 1" pattern which is another way of saying a 3 -to- 1 ratio. Here are the examples they provide:


...Another interesting formula of note in the Inferno is the three-plus-one equation. Three saints plus Virgil are introduced in Canto II of the poem, three monsters plus one are encountered before Dis, nine plus one pouches compose the geography of Malebolge, sins of Betrayal contain four sub-categories, and thirty-three plus one cantos make up the work itself. This is perhaps because there are three components to the Holy Trinity and one overarching Unity.

This Trinity itself provides one possible reason for each of the poems threes: Dante, obviously, wrote the Comedia as a deeply Christian work, and would have understood three to be a deeply theological number. Each of the tertiary structures in his poem can therefore be rationalized as a miniature religious reference to itself, and it makes a sort of logical sense that a poem that itself can be viewed as a reworking of the Bible would be composed so neatly and so fully out of the number three.

One of the problems with claiming that a list of threes in a religious context "naturally and logically" refers to a given religious orientation is that no one addresses the issue of why the value of "three" was adopted by many Christians, and in particular, the drafters of the Bible. Were they conscious of their use of a "three" theme as are many present day writers and speakers in their respective genres, or unconscious of such a usage? Then again, why did the value of "3" come to usurp the value of "7" or the value of "2" with its multiple identities such as divine pairs, antagonistic pairs, dichotomies, dualities, hermaphroditic, etc? No less, why do so many people buy into the idea there is only 1 god? How in the world do you know? Is it because the three born-in-the-desert religions— Judaism, Islam, or Christianity claim this is the case? Why did the idea of a 1 god come to usurp the past ideas of a divine pair, a trinity, or pantheon, and yet such ideas still exist in small enclaves? And why does the human mind only cycle through a limited array of ideological concerns relative to the quantity of a supreme entity? In other words, why so few gods? Why the conservation and concentration towards a single god-entity (singularity) if the human mind is not being subjected to environmental pressures which force it to adopt this strategy as a mechanism of survival in an incrementally deteriorating environment with increasing instances of severe rationing to take place, even if the majority of humanity is not cognizant of such? Those on the fringes of a large raft might be those to pay witness to deteriorations which eat away at the edges, like a desert encroaching on civilization at its borders, and those living at such borders are the first to pay to the sandstorm but may not think much of it if they too are focused primarily on the lush, verdant landscape of a manicured interior.

The cycle appears to involve 3 overall orientations which can overlap, leap-frog, be intermittent, be "punctuated" involving the various human concerns such as anthropological, biological, psychological, sociological (ie. political, economic, religious... etc.):

  1. Ideas of singularity such as a single god or a singularly chosen people, or singularly chosen place, etc.
    • The idea of "Nothingness" or "non-duality" can be viewed as single ideas, even if they involve multiplicity.
  2. Ideas of duality variously described as dichotomies, pairs, antagonisms, twoness, etc.
  3. Ideas of triplicity (or expressed as a multiplicity) such as triads, trinities, triunes, triples, ternary, etc.,
    • Ideas of multiplicity (which may or may not include three), such as a quadrivium, pantheon, plurality, etc.

A few examples from the field of pumps and related mechanical operations.

Why only a handful of number patterns and why is the "3" so very prominent if it is not due to an environmental influence signaling an incremental course of degradation? The "1", alternatively described as a singularity, signals that the human mind is adopting the necessary rationale as a survival mechanism... as the environment's resources continue to deplete. In other words, the ideas being espoused by different religions express a rationalized survival approach to the 3 disintegrations of the Sun, Earth and Moon. (The Sun is burning out, the Earth's rotation is slowing, the Moon is receding.) Yes, I fully realize you can find other number patterns, but if you look closely at those observed number patterns you might come to realize they are a recurrence of small numbers, and that if and when you decide to make a list, you will find some number patterns have a greater frequency of occurrence in different contexts, but may be wholly absent in other subject areas. This is an important point to make. It is not that we can't find larger number patterns, but we are not using them on a consistent basis. In all our subjects there is a recurrence of only a few patterns, including those involving Natural phenomena. Nature, at least from a human perspective, focuses in on only a few patterns as indicated by the ideas being generated in biology, physics, anatomy, etc...

Here's a larger list of the "3 -to- 1 ratios" that in the realm of Mathematics might be referred to as "Quaternion's". While a 3 -to- 1 ratio has been acknowledged as occurring in some instances (such as Mendelian genetics), a larger appreciation in multiple other areas of cognitive activity needs to be appreciated. The pattern appears to me to be a representation of the effects of the Sun's three moments (phases: dawn- noon- dusk) on a path towards a fusion as the Earth continues to slow and the Sun enlarges. In other words the pattern is a symbol of a biologically influential environmental event taking place. Similar to the idea in Christianity where it is noted that the Trinity is sometimes referred to as a 3 persons -in- 1 godhead. In other words, this expression illustrates the idea of an eventual fusion to take place with multiple other 3 -to- 1 ratio ideas. While such a cognitive behavior is easily seen in our time period, this may not be the case for future circumstances where 3 -to- 1 ideas are generated as composites. However, one need not be obsessed with using the word "to" since alternatives can be seen. For example, we might say 3 -in- 1 or 3 -with- 1 or 3 -from- 1 or 3 next to 1, or 3 times 1 or s minus 1 or 3 plus 1, or 3 -instead of- 1 or some flip-flopped variation such as the E Pluribus Unum expression denoting an "Out of Many, one"... where the word "many" is an old counting reference to the value of "3" as seen in the expression "One- two- Many", giving us three number words for humanity's early efforts at counting.


A few examples of the 3 to 1 rato pattern



In this section, let me begin by providing you with a few examples of the "threes" phenomena being associated with Natural events. And the information on the chart to the right is culled from Dr. McNulty's "Threes in Human Anatomy". For those wanting the chart, I provide this link to the Anatomy chart.pdf

This image is a link to a pdf containing this anatomy chart
Examples of patterns-of-three in Nature
Nature Seems To Love The Number Three by Mark Mahin

Here is a PDF of a list put together by: Scott Anfield. His accompanying commentary can be read at Mike Eck's site: On the Nature of the Universe.


Let me add a few threes-related examples from different perspectives of language. While some readers may have seen a few of them before, they did not make an active mental note of them into a singular compilation. If they had done so, and had done so for other subjects, then the recurring usage of a "three-patterned" cognitive theme might stick out in their consciousness. Here is the most recent compilation which includes a reference to recurring patterns-of-three in hear, since hearing plays such an important role in verbal language:


Examples of 3 part structures related to writing and language

The fact that we are using but a very few number patterns is significant. It also is significant to note that, despite the fact that it is Universally recognized by all Linguists that the ability to hear is of monumental importance for the usage of words, not a single Linguist in the history of the Subject has ever looked at the repeating "3" pattern associated with hearing and made any connection whatsoever to the frequency of 3s usage in speech. This is astonishing that so many intelligent people have collectively overlooked this phenomena in their research. And because I am not in their Academic club, my reference to the presence of a recurring "3" pattern is dismissed as being irrelevant... because someone in their group didn't think of it.


Vowels and consonants can be considered to be the segments of which speech is composed. Together they form syllables, which in turn make up utterances. Superimposed on the syllables there are other features that are known as suprasegmentals. These include variations in stress (accent) and pitch (tone and intonation). Variations in length are also usually considered to be suprasegmental features, although they can affect single segments as well as whole syllables. All of the suprasegmental features are characterized by the fact that they must be described in relation to other items in the same utterance. It is the relative values of the pitch, length, or degree of stress of an item that are significant. (Suprasegmentals)


You might be a reader who wants to rush in and claim you can find this and that article which presents a different quantity of items, and yet you do not also stop to look at the overall Conservation of Number EVERYBODY is using. In other words, we don't routinely come across researchers using (for example) 17 or 54 or 183 parts to describe fundamentals of language in speech or writing. Every single research focus references only a small quantity of items justified by some notion of inherent conservancy, even if this word, this idea... is not part of the usual linguistic vocabulary you encounter.

Here is an example of a geometric Linear- Circular- Triangular pattern-of-three expression occurring in the development of writing:


In the early period (writing) tablets there is a clear difference between the sharp tool used to draw the curviform lines of the pictographs and whatever was used to make the round holes for numbers that sought to imitate the original look of pressing counting stones into clay. By the Uruk III period we can see that they had developed different sized styluses with round cross sections for making number impressions. There was a gradual transition from the "umbin" as a pointed scratching instrument for writing pictographs to the "gi-dub-ba" reed stylus with a triangular head for making lines and wedges, which happened when writing transitioned from pictographic proto-cuneiform to abstract cuneiform by the time of the archaic Ur and Fara period tablets in the early third millennium. Several centuries after the invention of proto-cuneiform, the Sumerian scribe adopted what became the standard stylus with one end cut to make wedge marks and the other end rounded for making number signs. The appearance of the pictographs transitioned from being drawn with roundish natural-looking lines to being drawn with straight lines and then to the abstract conventions of the wedge-shaped cuneiform sign repertoire.

(Karl) Menninger traces the words for writing in many languages back to words for carving, cutting, or scratching. Furthermore, in bound collections of notched tally sticks or tablets of beech wood he sees the ancestor of the modern buch or book. He also convincingly traces the basic Roman numerals to tally stick notation conventions. Early Numeration - Tally Sticks, Counting Boards, and Sumerian Proto-Writing by John Alan Halloran (http://www.sumerian.org/)


Now, let me show those readers who have an interest in "twos" variously named duality, dichotomy, pair, complement, complementarity, binary, dyad... etc., because (if for no other reason) they need to realize that I acknowledge the existence of numerous "2s" as well as other patterns such as the "7", "13" different mathematical bases having existed in different cultures such as the 2 (in computers), 5 (common sorting system), 10 (current day), 12 (present time allocations of the day) , 20 (Mayans), 60 (Babylonians), etc... (Here is a reference to different types of counting system bases: List of Numeral systems), but don't view it as the definitive source.


This next image was culled from: (What sort of world is this?). A colleague (Richard Williams) sent me the link after he had taken the test. My score is 2.77. I was particularly amused at being confronted by having to choose between dichotomies! And yet, there is a three-part categorization. I present the poster and the link for those who may want to pursue the interesting idea which the group at the UPenn Primals Project have come up with, even though it is yet another example of the Persistent Dichotomies being used in Psychology classes and Mathematics.


Primal poster of the
What sort of world is this?

Examples of yin and yang patterns-of-two List of Dualites in Mathematics
Examples of duality ideas

Hemispheric attriubtes rendered as a dichotomy

Source: Mesologue

See also: Persistent Dichotomies I

I sometimes come across a person asking Psychologists (of all people to query) why they persistently see the number three in multiple observations. And of course the typical response is that the person is experiencing some measure of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). While this may be true in some cases, one needs to put the situation into a larger context. Such as that if the recurrent usage of a given number pattern is indicative of an OCD situation, then one must surely say that this is what Nature is expression. But more to the point is that the field of Psychology necessarily disparages any pattern that is not conducive to its own OCD situation in using patterns-of-two. It is clearly suffering from an OCD situation:


Examples of the two-patterned orientation which Psychology is using

Another installment of the persistent dichotomies in psychology

Date of Origination: Wednesday, 4th January 2023... 4:36 AM
Date of Initial posting: Wednesday, 4th January 2023... 4:41 PM
Updated posting: Monday, 18th March 2024... 7:35 AM