Threesology Research Journal

The Study of Threes...2

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Threes Study 1

Threes Study 2

Visitors as of March 17th, 2025

Studying the "threes" phenomena takes a person into multiple subjects and forces reinterpretations of information. I see other patterns just as you do, but interpret them differently. For example, the number "7" is not sacred to me, but neither is the number "3". I look at both of them and other patterns and attempt to place them into separate as well as a collective categorization relative to human conceptualization. With respect to a different pattern such as the widely liked number "7", a few examples need only be listed in order for the reader to better comprehend that I too have paid witness to its variety of examples, but that such examples pale in both qualitative and quantitative comparison to those examples found for the number 3:

• 7 dwarves of Sleeping Beauty
• 7 stars of the Big and Little Dippers as well as the Pleiades (also known as the 7 sisters).
• 7 years to a dog's life (Attributed to puppies by some, and others think it refers to a dog's entire life, while others explore the persistence of this "7-year myth", even though they are foraging the trail of yet another myth with their assumed "expert" opinion why the "7" persists in human cognitive activity related to cultural themes.)

• 7 holes in a Ritz cracker
• 7 slotted Grille on Jeep vehicles (Due to headlight expansion, requiring two slots to be removed.)
• (The view that the number represents the 7 continents on which Jeep has supposedly been the first vehicle to achieve, is apparently a myth not even some enthusiasts of Jeep history are familiar with. I recall hearing it from a Jeep owner over a decade ago.)
• 7 layers of skin idea (typically cited by some adolescents). The 7 are compiled into 3 groups called the dermis, epidermis and hypodermis (or subcutaneous layer).
• 7 "teen" years (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)... I thought of this several years ago. I have never encountered it elsewhere.
• 7 golden Cities of Cibola
• 7 hills of Rome
• 7-day sighting of a comet for Julius Caesar's burial:
  He died in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and was ranked amongst the Gods, not only by a formal decree, but a belief in the vulgar(Vulgar in his day referred to common, ordinary, plain). For during the first games which Augustus, his heir, consecrated to his memory, a comet blazed for seven days together, rising always about eleven o'clock; and it was supposed to be the soul of Caesar, now received into heaven: for which reason, likewise, he is represented on his statute with a star on his brow. the senate-house in which he was slain, was ordered to be shut up, and a decree made that the ides of March should be called parracidal, and the senate should never more assemble on that day. LXXVIII, page 32, The lives of the twelve Caesars– complete. by C. Tranquillus Suetonius
• H.O.B. Note: The use of a star to represent divinity was adopted by early Christian thinkers to add some historical (thus plausible) scenery to the story of Jesus's Birth referenced by the supposed Star of Bethlehem. For some, it is a fabricated tale, but for others in their exploration, consider it may have been either an actual (singular) comet or a triple conjunction of planetary bodies: Star of Bethlehem: The astronomical explanations
• H.O.B. Note: And let me add another reference to a contemporary view called The Last Supper of Christian fame, which (supposedly) arose from a more ancient Jewish rite called the Passover. The Last Supper painting was by Leonardo da Vinci probably between 1495 and 1498 for the Dominican monastery Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. However, the idea of a supper with twelve individuals appears to have been an idea that was used under different guises. One might even say that it also had an ancient Roman influence. In the above cited Lives of the Twelve Caesars, on pages 75 and 76, there is an account of a social practice called the Supper of the Twelve Gods described as follows:
• LXX, A private entertainment which he gave, commonly called the Supper of the Twelve Gods, and at which the guests were dressed in the habit of gods and goddesses, while he personated Apollo himself, afforded subject of much conversation, and was imputed to him not only by Antony in his letters, who likewise names all the parties concerned, but in the following well-known anonymous verses:
  "When Mallia late beheld, in mingled train,
  Twelve mortals ape twelve deities in vain,
  Caesar assumed what was Apollo's due,
  And wine and lust inflamed the motley crew.
  At the foul sight the gods avert their eyes,
  And from his throne great Jove indignant flies."
  What rendered this supper more obnoxious to public censure, was, that it happened at a time when there was a great scarcity, and almost a famine, in the city. The day after, there was a cry current among the people, "that the gods had eaten up all the corn; and that Caesar was indeed Apollo, but Apollo the Tormentor;" under which title that god was worshipped in some quarter of the city.
• H.O.B. note: Hence, the historicity of the Last supper event is a chronology of copycat-ism, supposedly starting with the ancient Jewish custom called the Passover, but may itself have been the result of an earlier practice that the Jews copied from others:
  
  • 1st... Pre-recorded history occurrence (or hidden in plain sight such as the 12 month calendar idea and 12 Zodiac signs)? Some ancient past not recorded or the record is lost along with those who first implemented some variant such as Cro-magnons or Neanderthals with respect to their world-view and social/spiritual practices? Was there a "Pagan" ('hillbilly') ritual of 12 (or less/more) which preceded the Jewish usage of a "get together" involving food/drink/ceremonialism (dress up for the occasion) in a socially rendered spiritual context? Was the Jewish Passover involving 12 tribes an amalgamation of ideas taken from other contexts outside the Jewish community, whether or not the Jews were cognizant of the initiating outside-influenced importations... just like we of today wonder about the social complexities involved in influencing good or bad behavior?
  • 2nd... The Jewish Passover from Exodus 12 record involving the 12 tribes and their deliverance from captivity involving the slaughtering of lambs and use of the blood to mark Jewish doorways/entrances so that they would escape their god's vengeance on the Egyptians. Date of the Jewish Passover: 1451 BC
  • 3rd... A supper of 12 was conducted by Octavious Caesar Augustus (Sept. 23, 63 bce— died Aug. 19, 14 ce, Nola, near Naples, Italy; he was the first Roman emperor.)
  • The Last Supper painting was done by Leonard Da Vinci between 1494 - 1498. He was referencing the Last Supper account found in the Christian Bible, which is said to have occurred on Wednesday, 1 April AD33, according to the standard Julian calendar used by historians.
  • 12 or 13 Zodiac signs (based on a 12 month calender). The Origin of the Zodiac, has multiple source references such as Wikipedia: Zodiac, How Old are Zodiac Signs, Ages of the Zodiac Signs, etc...

• 7 Servite Founders (13th century) of the the Ordo Fratrum Servorum Sanctae Mariae ("Order of Friar Servants of St. Mary"): saints Bonfilius, Alexis Falconieri, John Bonagiunta, Benedict dell'Antella, Bartholomew Amidei, Gerard Sostegni, Ricoverus Uguccione.
• 7 Sages (7 wise masters) stories (Book of Sinbad)
• 7 last words of Jesus on the Cross (Oh God/Father, why has thou forsaken me)
• 7 against Thebes (mythology)
• 7 oaks massacre (Canadian history)
• 7 deadly sins (theology)
• 7 years war (European history)
• 7 pines battle (USA history)
• 7 weeks war (Austro-prussian War, 1866)
• 7 divine mothers (Saptamatrika)... a group of seven mother-goddesses in Hinduism
• 7 snakes Aztec goddess (Chicomecóatl, Nahuatl "Seven Snakes" also called Xilonen ("Young Maize-Ear Doll"); Aztec goddess of sustenance and, hence, of corn (maize), one of the most ancient and important goddesses in the Valley of Mexico. The number seven in her name is associated with luck and generative power.)
• 7 Snake Deities in India
• 7-transmembrane receptor or heptahelical receptor (G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR); protein located in the cell membrane that binds extracellular substances and transmits signals from these substances to an intracellular molecule called a G protein (guanine nucleotide-binding protein). GPCRs are found in the cell membranes of a wide range of organisms, including mammals, plants, microorganisms, and invertebrates.)
• 7th Calvary of Lt. Colonel George Custer that was wiped out by the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians at the Little Big Horn in Montana at The Battle of the Little Big Horn.
• etc...
• 3 volleys of 7, resulting in 21 shots given at military funerals.
• 3 sevens are 21, go sheepy go! (variation of hide-n-seek game I recall from childhood)
• 3 sevens line-up win on old slot machines

Note: Colonel Custer had 3 Indian scouts, he turned down 3 gatling guns and divided his command into 3 groups.

Typically we come across lists whose authors may take examples from one or more other authors who have listed a few examples. However, the list of examples, if numerous, typically are from a single subject such as religion. My above list mostly comes from the Britannica. Yet, in most cases... regardless of which number a person uses, there is a distinct absence of examples culled from science. Many are from religion, some from book and movie titles and still others culled from a source such as the Britannica or other storage in which the word "seven" or number/symbol "7" (and their derivations) have been compiled with or without making any further reference to the value except in some case of labeling in a number of superstition or numerology. While there may be numerous instances of the value 7 in multiple other contexts involving some science, I don't recall them nor have I made it an object of study. The ideological interest over time apparently has been influenced by religion and religion by ancient star gazers.

Here are a few more "seven" examples culled from this site: Seven sisters.

• The seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride)
• The seven virtues (chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience, and humility
• The seven classical planets (The Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn)
• The Pleiades, the seven daughters of Atlas
• The seven metals of antiquity (gold, silver, iron, mercury, tin, copper, and lead)
• The seven heavens
• The seven days of the week (3 are celestial bodies, 4 are named after Norse gods:
  • Sunday, Monday, Saturn-day;
  • Tyrs day (Tuesday), Wodin's day (Wednesday), Thursday (Thor's day); Friday (Frigg/ Freyja)
• The seven colors in the rainbow ( red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet)
• The seven seas
• The seven continents (Antarctica, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America)
• The seven climatic zones, or six, or five... depending on who and how they are counting. (See: The Classification of Climates from Pythagoras to Koeppen)
  • 7 zones: Tropical, Dry, Temperate, Continental, Polar, Mediterranean, Highland.
  • 6 zones: Tropical, Dry, Temperate, Continental, Polar, Alpine.
  • 5 zones Tropical, Dry, Temperate, Continental, Polar.
  • 8 zones in Australia:
    1. Climate zone 1 - high humidity summer, warm winter
    2. Climate zone 2 - warm humid summer, mild winter
    3. Climate zone 3 - hot dry summer, warm winter
    4. Climate zone 4 - hot dry summer, cool winter
    5. Climate zone 5 - warm temperate
    6. Climate zone 6 - mild temperate
    7. Climate zone 7 - cool temperate
    8. Climate zone 8 - alpine
  • Aristotle hypothesized 3 zones based on the view that the earth’s five circles of latitude (the Arctic Circle, Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, Equator, and Antarctic Circle) divided the Northern and Southern hemispheres into a torrid, temperate, and frigid zone.

• The seven wonders of the ancient world: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
• Seven wonders of the Modern World: Great Wall of China, Chichén Itzá (Mayan City), Petra (Jordan), Machu Picchu (Incan City in Peru), Christ the Redeemer, (a colossal statue of Jesus, stands atop Mount Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro.), Colosseum (Rome, Italy), Taj Mahal (Agra, India)
• The seven (heptatonic) notes in the Western (diatonic) musical scale: (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian).
• Series 7 (and 3) used in Psychological testing (A person counts backward from 100 by 7s or 3s to determine attention and concentration.)

However, though you may be impressed by the foregoing list, take another look and pay witness to the absence of examples from multiple sciences such as Physics, Biology, Linguistics, etc... Indeed, if DNA had a seven code and the Earth was the 7th planet (which it is if we count from Pluto inwards), then I too would be impressed at the recurrence of this value... except it doesn't so I am not particularly interested in the recurrence of a pattern which does not have a secure presence in multiple genres of study and value:

Is it more important to count from the Sun outwards or Pluto inwards to determine the position of the Earth?

The first cracker is the Ritz variety. How do we account for a lack of some number (hole) values being used in the baking of crackers?:

In addition, if we look to the past and make an attempt to identify why the "7" became such an important pattern to ancient peoples whose influence continues to this day without those of the present (who are interested in the number "7") realizing; it is of need to point out 3 major celestial references which star gazers of antiquity were awed over and used as "evidence" that the presumed divinity of the Star alignments as seen by humans was related to the domain of a god(s) and was a required orientation for humans who wanted to believe in a personalized relationship with an assumed "higher" (overhead) power to be later described with three “omni” attributes of God:

• Omnipotence (all-powerful)
• Omniscience (all-knowing)
• Omnipresence (present everywhere)

3 Celestial observations which influenced the idea that the number "7" was of great significance to ancient peoples and whose influence lingers today in the minds of those attached to primitive ideologies which they are oblivious to:

• 7 stars of the Big and Little Dippers
  • Seen during the 2 Solstices and 2 Equinoxes, the Big Dipper becomes the Swastika. (Pan or handle end provides the same idea.)
• 7 stars of the Pleiades (also called the seven sisters)
• 7 planets ("wanderers") visible without a telescope: Mercury, Venus, Moon, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn

Another classic example of a "7" topic with an overlooked "3" pattern, at least in the subject of Psychology, is George Miller's 1956 paper entitled The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. The "3 pattern" exists within the title: 7 + or - 2 yields the value of 5 - 7 - 9, even though one field of research after another, including University requirements for having a modicum of math knowledge... has never noted the existence of the simple math equation and made reference to it in terms of human cognitive development in the context of biological development.

Not a single person since 1956 has ever made mention of the presence of the three-pattern. However, we should not expect too much insight from a field of study which embraces a pattern-of-2 (dualities/dichotomies) as a major/primary underlying world-view, just as we see in Mathematics, Computer code and the old Chinese Yin-g/Yang ideology... all of whom do not have an observable understanding of trichotomization though individuals within those respective fields have attempted different measures of exceeding the dominant and prominent "2-patterned" orientation. Understanding Trichotomization requires a whole new type of conceptualization that one might playfully entitle as a Third Consciousness... (Apperception- Perception- Properception of Trichotomization as part of a developmental 1- 2- 3 developmental sequencing.)

Summaries in brief (initiated for the present truncated model of re-posting):

• Trichotomization: A fledgling field of study incorporating various labels such as Threesology, tripartite ideology, threeism, triadism, triunity, treble, ternary, etc..., found in different guises in multiple subjects.
  • Identifies possible origination(s) of three-patterned ideological constructs.
  • Identifies potential changes in cognitive adoption of tripartite patterning in contrast to other patterns.
  • Identifies probabilities of further structuring over time under given biological, environmental, sociological, educational, industrial, etc., pressures...
• Threes Posters series: Compiled examples from different subjects with a "three" related theme. (Rendered as a collage in which some similar items may be referenced together. I was not trying to be artistic, I was simply trying to cram multiple ideas into a small space.)
• Evolutionary Psychodynamics series: Psychology has a persistent usage of duality/dichotomization and is (for the most part), unaware of how deep and widespread the human mind has evolved into... and relies on trichotomy/trichotomization; which is a problematic issue that creates a need for altering institutionally used philosophies to make a deliberate accounting of numerically-based cognitive patterning.
• Images speaking for themselves: It is of need (at times) to display images without commentary because they are able to invoke the repertoires of individualized imaginations. The old adage "one picture is worth a thousand words" comes to mind just as its obverse: "One word is worth a thousand pictures." Hence, a gallery of images I have collected and created for the Threesology site may be of greater value to some viewers than a particular supplemental commentary.

Looking through history we can find individuals deliberately (or unknowingly) using a pattern-of-three as a main organizational tool for their research efforts such as:

• Georges Dumezil's Tripartite Ideology
• Dr. McNulty's List of threes in Human anatomy
• G.W. Hegel's triads
• Herbert Spencer's Triads
• Immanuel Kant's 3 Critiques (Each of Kant's three critiques is divided into the same three parts: (1) an "analytic," or analysis of reason's right functioning, (2) a "dialectic," or logic of error, showing the pitfalls into which a careless reason falls, and (3) a "methodology," an arrangement of rules for practice... Source: "philosophy, Western." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013.) 3 early dissertations: De Igne (On Fire), Monodologia physica (1756), Principiorum Primorum Cognitionis Metaphysicae Nova Dilucidato (1755), (on the first principles of metaphysics. Source: "Kant, Immanuel." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013.)
• Triads in Classical European mythology (various authors other than Dumezil)
• Literature (i.e. Fairy tales discussed by numerous authors)
• etc... In other words, some writers do use one or more patterns-of-three but not all of them... only those whose consciousness has ventured near the realm of a 3rd consciousness. In fact, most do not appear to be particularly focused on using an explicit "three" theme, whether they are consciously aware of it or not, and may only use such a theme for one story, one song, one painting, etc...

Here is a handful of others noted for using a 3-part theme, though the expression may have been the result of some later researchers having coined it, and the actual author of the cited philosophy did not themselves use the pattern-of-three with any repeated distinction or elaboration:

• 3 times the fool: You can fool some people some of the time - Some people all the time - But not all people all the time.
• 3 traditional syllogism forms: Categorical - Hypothetical - Disjunctive
• 3-patterned (adult) basic syllogism: All ravens are black - Jack is a raven - Therefore, Jack is black.
• 3-patterned (child) basic syllogism: Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear- Fuzzy Wuzzy had not hair- Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't Fuzzy was he?
• 3 basic computer logic gates: AND- OR- NOT
• 3-parts betting formula: Rock- Scissors- Paper
• 3 sentence ending marks: Period- Question mark- Exclamation point
• 3 traditional grading levels: A(plus)- A- A(minus)
• 3 common classroom tests: True/False- Multiple choice- Essay
• 3 separate Stone Age Periods: Paleolithic Period, Mesolithic Period, and Neolithic Period (based on the degree of sophistication in the fashioning and use of tools. Source: "Stone Age." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013.)
• 3 Metal Ages: {approximate dates] Bronze Age (2300–700 BCE)- Iron Age (700–1 BCE)- Copper Age (c. 3200–2300 BCE). {At this time, societies in Europe began consciously to produce metals.) Source: "Europe, history of." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013.
• 3 German fathers of Botany: Otto Brunfels, Hieronymus Bock (Latinized to Tragus), Leonhard Fuchs (Source: "genetics." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013.)
• 3 Foundation Stallions: Byerly Turk, Darley Arabian, Goldolphin barb
• 3 Foundation Stallion direct-line descendants: Matchem- King Herod- Eclipse
• 3, upper right computer screen corner indicators: Minimize- Maximize- Close
• 3 laws of motion, 3 laws of planetary motion, 3 (Asimov) laws of robots
• 3-patterned "arbitrarily chosen" math tool used in Electronics: ^-15 10^-12 10^-9 10^-6 10^-3 ... 10³ 10⁶ 10⁹ 10¹² 10¹⁵ ...etc.

3-patterned formulas:

However, it is not enough to list different examples of "threes", regardless of how many different types of subjects you include. You must reach the point in your listing efforts to recognize some pattern which can be used as a unifying theme of further exploration, if not provide some eventual explanation, which represents some commanding theme for additional considerations from other observant individuals. What I see is a developmental 1-2-3 scenario having occurred in biology. Because our brain and hence our consciousness are inextricably intertwined, it is not unwarranted to consider the possibility that human consciousness has the potential to develop what I describe as a "Third Consciousness" that is already a theme of consideration in multiple ideologies which have not established any observable facts to back up their claims. Biological development does. This does not mean their particular claims are correct, but there does exist an identifiable biologically-based criteria for thinking about the existence of such a "Higher" consciousness potentiality.

Note: I do not in any way advocate attaching any presumed preeminence to any metaphysical or spiritualistically- oriented idea which has practiced the consideration of some "higher consciousness" inclusive of their particular ideology, be it Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, New Age Hyper consciousness, or other similarly focused indulgences. Such ideas are like Mathematicians who speak of a "Pure Mathematics" or Musicians who speak of a "Pure note" (or Pure sound), though other subjects (such as sports with the idea of reaching a "zone") have their own respective notions of that which exists beyond the norm and you must perform one or more duties, tests, tasks, contests, deprivations, sufferings, contortions, rituals, [physical/mental/emotional mantra], etc., in order to provide oneself a means of achieving such a state of vaguely defined, understood, and illustrated realization. All of them are on a course of soon-to-be-outdated survival mechanisms, even though each of them in their own way are sensitively aware of the human potential for achieving a 3rd consciousness... just not in the model which they ascribe to. Their ideas of Heaven, of Nirvana, or other superior place or existence of being, are to be viewed as little more than a basement (subway, sub-flooring, or ground floor) variety of an actual 3rd consciousness.

Coupled to this idea is the realization that an additional influence of consciousness development exists in the relationship between the Sun-Earth-Moon Trio. Simply put, the fast rate of the Earth's rotation billions of years ago presented early biological macromolecules with at 3-patterned strobe light effect established by the Sun's irradiation of a fast spinning Earth. As such, if the influence is an actuality to be established by experimentation and not sit on some theological or mystical shelf of traditional belief lasting for centuries, then further slowing may necessarily effect a "fusion" event of the 3 solar phases (moments); thereby continuing to influence a 3-to- 1 ratio expression of which there are multiple examples such as Mendelian genetics, the Christian trinity (3 persons in 1 godhead), a 3-branched government (functioning as a singular unit), the universally used 3 colors in 1 street signal, 1 pen/pencil held with three fingers, etc...

As such, let me provide a couple of similar images which gives some indication of where my thinking is directed towards at the present time:

However, it may be much too early in the development of humanity to appreciate a full realization of what is taking place due to the influence of the environment on biology which in turn plays a role in our developing perceptions over time.