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Progressive Thinkers as of 5/8/2020
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Here is a recurring assortment of a similar cognitive patterning that the public is familiar with, but doesn't connect-the-dots of similarity in any constructive way, much less define it as an example of cognitive pattern recurrences:
- The U.S. government's Trillion Dollar budget deficit
- World War Three by way of Nuclear bombs that may be carried by Trident missiles whose warheads are launched by three solid-fueled booster stages and are dispersed toward their targets by a liquid-fueled “bus” in the missile’s front end.
- Periodic Space shuttle launches with components which include the Orbiter Vehicle (OV) with three clustered Rocketdyne RS-25 main engines, a pair of recoverable solid rocket boosters (SRBs), and the expendable external tank (ET) containing liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. (This arrangement provides a 3-2-1 formula: 3 engines, 2 boosters, 1 expendable tank.)
- Space shuttle launches caught up in the three-patterned (well-intentioned) philosophy), Faster, Better, Cheaper (by Dr. Elisabeth A. Frank) around which are controversies (The Upside/Downside of Faster, Better, Cheaper by Dr. Steve Jolly).
- The Death penalty (by way of) Lethal Injection involving three drugs: typically a barbiturate, a paralytic, and a potassium solution.
- As well as discussions about the pros and cons of the Three Strikes Law.
- Or how the idea of a Separation of Powers (Trias Politica) Often becomes blurred or fused when...
- The Three Branches of (the U.S.) Government (Executive- Legislative- Judicial) creates a stalemate situation sometimes seen as a budgetary crisis involving government shutdowns...
- Frequently requiring the use of some metaphorized idea such as an
(All three of which are fully recognized as optional reactions, but the three are not typically collated together whereby they could otherwise be recognized as a recurring cognitive theme.)
But there are multiple other three-patterned organized ideas and activities which may not garner much media attention in some venues such as for example:
- 1st, 2nd, third Legislative Readings
- 3 "great" Monotheistic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) developed under desert conditions and may not have been developed if the originating cultures lived in aquatic, forest, jungle, swamp, Monsoon, Volcanic, Tornado, Earthquake, etc., environments.
- The "three pillars" of ancient Chinese society are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. As philosophies and religions, they not only influenced spirituality, but also government, science, the arts, and social structure.
- The three pillars of democracy were: the Assembly of the Demos, the Council of 500, and the People’s Court. These were supplemented by (a.) the Council of (b.) the Areopagus, (c.) the Archons, and the Generals. Actual legislation involved both the Assembly and the Council, and ad hoc boards of "Lawmakers." While Athens was known as the birth place of Democracy, the father of Democracy is said to be the Athenian leader Cleisthenes who introduced a system of political reforms that he called demokratia, or "rule by the people" (from demos, "the people," and kratos, or "power"). It was the first known democracy in the world. (Notice no "Mother of Democracy" is ever mentioned.)
- Three pillars of modern physics; quantum theory, relativity, and thermodynamics
- "Threes" laws established by classical physics (and genetics):
- Newton's 3 laws of motion
- Kepler's 3 laws of planetary motion
- Three former laws of Thermodynamics. By including the Zeroth Law, the compilation becomes a 3 -to- 1 ratio.
- Mendel's 3 laws of inheritance
- Third pillar of science: Computing.
- 3 prominent political ideologies expressed in various ways in different cultures: Conservatives/Conservatism, Liberals/Liberalism, Moderates/Moderation.
- Three main areas of philosophy: ethics, epistemology and metaphysics.
- 3 competing social philosophies: Capitalism, Socialism, Communism (and the Difference Between Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism. by Miles Cohen, Feb. 2, 2020)
- etc...
Note, in contrast to the American formula of government, the three "Representative, Legislative and Deliberative" assemblies are commonly called parliaments. (A comparison between three ideal types of parliamentary politics.)
In so very many cases we find recurring patterns being taken for granted such as the three-standard expression associated with American court proceedings denoted as 1) Tell the truth 2) Tell the Whole Truth 3) and nothing but the truth. (The origin of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth by Brendan Koerner, April 30, 2004).
However, in some cases, this three-part expectation is usurped by the Judge or some Attorney who wants to piece-meal what is or what is not to be permitted as evidentiary truth, because winning a case or compliance with some underlying bias is more important than the testimony of someone's attempt to comply with the three-part invocation, whereby the idea of truth becomes subjected to a variable three-part expression of "There’s your truth, There’s my truth and There’s the truth", which is an idea which may lead some to think about in terms of the The Blind Men and the Elephant poem by John Saxon, but has earlier versions and considered to be a parable: (Blind men and an elephant).
Whereas the foregoing "truth serum" (at least that's what I am calling it because it comes across like an ancient secret society password/oath) and looks familiar to Hegel's triad consisting of: Thesis- Antithesis- Synthesis; which is similar to the syllogistic tripartite model of Major premise- Minor premise- Conclusion; we find that the three courtroom examinations bespeak of another similarity: Examination, Cross-Examination, and Redirect Examination. One might even argue that the Judge and Two attorneys is yet another syllogistic formula, whereas the addition of a Jury creates a 3 -to-1 ratio, which is a 'signatured' "three-pattern" to be found in multiple contexts to contrast with the notion of a supposed "four" conceptualization.
There are multiple three-part ideas, slogans, expressions, etc., (label them as you will) to which I will add the well known:
- You can fool some of the people some of the time.
- Some of the people all of the time.
- But not all of the people all of the time.
And for a final example culled from some childhood recess in my memory:
- Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.
- Fuzzy Wuzzy had not hair.
- Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy was he?
The situation with the use of a three-part truth "serum" used in some American court proceedings is that the larger cultural situation is even more incongruous with logic when a jury system of legality is... on the one hand thought to be an absolute necessity for a Democracy, but (on the other hand) the structure of government itself is not fashioned after the jury trial method in terms of the People having their own distinctive legislative branch instead of substitutions like a Referendum, most of which require some type of arduous gauntlet to be performed, and is part of the different tactics used by governments and other entities meant to discourage and fatigue public participation such as through time constraints and other hoop-jumping performances. When we have governments throughout the world practicing their own formulas of social dictatorship which effectively excludes the public for a permanent presence in making laws for itself, and are governments which prefer forms of surrogacy, distanced representation, proxy, vicariousness, absenteeism, etc., what we have is "self-rule" hypocrisy requiring an array of illusions, delusions and machinations so that a few can impose their will on the majority who have no real voice.
And speaking of incongruities of presumed logic, one needs only to look at the military which is claimed to be a bastion of Democracy, yet as an institution it resembles the practices of both Communism (Commune- ism) and Socialism). Indeed, if we say that a cornerstone of Democracy is for the people to vote in their leaders, then must quickly note the absence of such a practice in the Military, where no enlisted personnel have ever been able to vote in their leaders. No less, if Democracy is the superior ideal, then it should have no need to rely upon a non-democratic institution such as the military to protect its views and values which must come under question because of such a hypocritical situation. A look at the culture of the military by way of the following list clearly shows Democracy (as is presently practiced), is but an illusory idea, particularly when so many workplaces, sports teams, religious congregations and businesses practice varying truncated formulas of Democracy just like all governments do.
The recurrence of a "three" formula (which suggests the presence of a cognitive pattern which repeats itself in a manner that can be interpreted to reflect a repetition defining a commonality of cognitive activity)... needs to be viewed in a much larger and comprehensive context beyond the mumblings of those using words such as coincidence, culture, superstition, numerology and other attempts to discourage, disparage, deflect, deride or distract an active interest in this area of research involving every single subject and activity humanity involves itself with.
If the use of a recurring pattern takes place in one or more mythologies as it does in religions, then such a pattern reflects a cognitive pattern which is appreciably interesting when we find the same underlying pattern in topics and activities which people in a given era think are series topics. But the presence (for example) of a recurring "three" pattern occurring in religion, myths and fairy tales has been noticed by others. The psychologist Carl Jung for example, considered it to be an archetype, while Georges Dumézil viewed it from the opinion of his research interests.
- Carl Jung on "Three" and "Time". by Mr. Purrington, Nov. 6, 2020
- Number as Archetype
- "The evolution of number: The archetype of order" by Robin Robertson
Interestingly, some people will reference one deity as three persons and another might say three persons in 1 godhead, and not think to consider they are referencing a 3-to-1 ratio, because they get stuck on using 1 type of conjunction between the two number values. In other words, the following expressions are all referring to a 3-to-1 ratio (including reversing the numbers in the expression):
- 3 to 1
- 3 as 1
- three from one
- buy 3 get 1 free (vehicle tires)
- 3 rocket engines in 1 space shuttle
- 3 times 1
- 3 divided by 1
- E Pluribus Unumout of "many", one. ("many" is a term linked to the 1-2-many primitive counting sequence).
- three and one
- Three values of degree to each grade (A+ A A+)... in other words, plus- standard- minus.
- AND... one should also look at the 3X + 1 problem in mathematics: The simplest Math problem no one can solve by Veritasium (It shows the three-patterned "4- 2- 1" loop.)
A reference in the Triple Deity entry in the Wikipedia provides the following:
[This article is about deities with triple forms. For triads of deities, see Triad (religion). For one deity as three persons, see Trinity. For the modern pagan belief, see Triple Goddess (Neo-paganism).]
A triple deity is a deity with three apparent forms that function as a singular whole. Such deities may sometimes be referred to as threefold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune, triadic, or as a trinity. The number three has a long history of mythical associations and triple deities are common throughout world mythology. Carl Jung considered the arrangement of deities into triplets an archetype in the history of religion.
In classical religious iconography or mythological art, three separate beings may represent either a triad who typically appear as a group (the Greek Moirai, Charites, and Erinyes; the Norse Norns; or the Irish Morrígan) or a single deity notable for having three aspects (Greek Hecate, Roman Diana).
Origins
Georges Dumézil proposed in his Trifunctional hypothesis that ancient Indo-European society conceived of itself as structured around three activities: worship, war, and toil. As social structures developed, particular segments of societies became more closely associated with one of the three fundamental activities. These segments, in turn, became entrenched as three distinct "classes", each one represented by its own god. In 1970, Dumézil proposed that some goddesses represented these three qualities as different aspects or epithets. Interpreting various deities, including the Iranian Anahita and the Roman Juno, he identified what were, in his view, examples of this. Dumézil's trifunctional hypothesis proved controversial. Many critics view it as a modern imposition onto Indo-European religion rather than an idea present in the society itself.
Vesna Petreska posits that myths including trinities of female mythical beings from Central and Eastern European cultures may be evidence for an Indo-European belief in trimutive female "spinners" of destiny...
Petreska, Vesna (2006). "Demons of Fate in Macedonian Folk Beliefs". In Klaniczay, Gábor; Pócs, Éva (eds.). Christian Demonology and Popular Mythology. Budapest: Central European University Press. p. 221. ISBN 963-7326-76-6. OCLC 84742672. They are females - three women, maidens or sisters ... They appear in three age categories, young, middle-aged, and old ... The youngest one starts the foretelling, then the middle one, but the crucial information is foretold by the third, the oldest narechnitsa ...This belief is related to the ancient Indo-European tradition of Threefold death.
...However, according to the linguist M. L. West, various female deities and mythological figures in Europe show the influence of pre-Indo-European goddess-worship, and triple female fate divinities, typically "spinners" of destiny, are attested all over Europe and in Bronze Age Anatolia.
Some people are dismissive of the "three" pattern seen in myths, religions and fairy tales. They do not consider such topics as being serious. However, when a similar profile of "three" can be found in serious topics, all the examples are not being put together by Cognitive researchers seeking some "Universal, or Standard, or Common" pattern of mental activity, and then fashioned into some representative tool which can be used for their respective interests. It is a situation which is attributed to Will Rogers (though others disagree): "There are 3 kinds of men (researchers). Those that learn by reading/doing. The few who learn by observation/experimentation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves." And those interested in the "threes phenomena" are looking at some supposed origin in other venues of story-telling, instead of more fundamental biological activity, which one might assume is a precursor to cognitive activity.
What is also being overlooked is that when people argue against the "three pattern" and make reference to some other number pattern such as 2, 7, 8 or what have you, no one is noticing that when we collate all the numbers being supplied as an objection to the threes pattern; is that only a handful of numbers are being routinely used, despite the infinity of numbers humans claim to have at their disposal. Curiously, why aren't more people noticing that in terms of money, it is only the three values of millions, billions and trillions which have increasingly gained ascendancy, (particularly in movies and public accounting references expresses by journalists, whereas older movies referenced lower amounts in terms of bank robberies, embezzlement, theft, etc...) while larger values are being viewed as territories much like larger numbers when early humans began developing counting systems. In other words, the overall quantity of numbers being used in all surveys, is conserved. There is a conservation of number be routinely exercised as a standard cognitive pattern. I view this in terms of a survival mechanism related to an imposition being placed on us by an incrementally deteriorating environment. Because Nature itself apparently resorts to the use of a very small set of patterns which we can identify with numbers, we need to look outside the box of the typical types of analysis being undertaken when we take stock of recurring patterns that we have come to enumerate and very often develop a rationale of explanation best befitting our personal interest of a singular subject.
Most often people give a singular number as their favorite number. Others may give double or triple digit numbers, while a few, such as in the case of someone claiming the mathematically designated Pi is their favorite number, will provide four, five, six, seven eight, nine, ten, eleven, or twelve decimal places (3.14159265359)... more-so as an expression of some egotistical attempt to make a claim they are somehow smarter than the majority who simply reference Pi as 3.14. However, even if someone claims they don't have a favorite number, they nonetheless engage in some activity as a repetition which can be enumerated, such as always buying three items or selecting one of the three types of gasoline (petrol), or walking three dogs, or owning three suits, etc., or having three kids, or getting married three times, or having a three-(alcohol) drink limit, or exercising on three days of the week, or purchasing a 3-moth calendar, or exercising a 1- 2- 3 disciplinary counting procedure with their children, etc...
Others have wondered how many triadic structures occur in a given mythology such as in the ancient Greek civilization. Let me provide some account culled from this source: What are all the triads of Greek Mythology?
There are the big three: Hades, Poseidon, Zeus. Furthermore, the Fates, the Furies, the judges of the Underworld, the elder Cyclopes, the Hecatoncheires and the Oneiroi. There are also three rulers of the universe: the Primordials, the Titans, and the Olympians.
Sons of Kronos and Rhea, daughters of Kronos and Rhea, Graces, Gorgons, claimants of the Apple of Discord, Old Men of the Sea (Nereus, Phorkys, Proteus)... on Furies, I consider Eumenides, wherein they are a whole chorus, to be the Greek locus classicus, but if one goes by Virgil they are three too. Then there seems to be some rather mysterious three-ness involving Hecate.
It lists manifestations such as the Boeotian three muses configuration (Melete, Aoide and Mneme, which legendarily pre-dates the nine muses.
Maiden/Mother/Crone configurations are particularly prevalent, for instance Kore/Demeter/Rhea. (The prevalence of female triads relates to the three distinct biological conditions related to reproduction--pre-pubescent, fertile, and menopausal. Pagan religions tend to be preoccupied with cycles of generation.)
Among the most famous triads are:
More fearsome famous triads are:
- The Erinyes/Eumenides (Furies/Kindly Ones)
- The Gorgons
- The Sirens
And of course:
- The Hesperides ("Daughters of the Evening")
- The Graeae (Known for sharing a single eye between them)
- The Oenotropae ("The Winegrowers")
A famous tri-partite male figure is
Although it's important to recognize his connection to Demeter and the Eleusinian Mysteries.
- Achilles/Patroclus/Hector
Is an important triad, where the fates of the three warriors are entwined.
In this famous version of the riddle, "the creature that goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the day, and three legs at night" is an analogy for the three phases of human life: childhood, adulthood, old age.
Whether or not the triadic characters are real and not just representations of ideas, feelings and beliefs... the fact remains that the underlying pattern assigned with a numerical value is a recurring cognitive activity in multiple human interests:
Finding a particular pattern such as the pattern-of-three in multiple subjects tells us that we are being confronted by a cognitive pattern, whether or not the pattern reflects the actual existence of what is being listed. Statements can be actual though not necessarily reflect truth or reality. And yet, even when such a pattern is being used by thousands of Cognitive pattern researchers, its presence remains oblivious to them. However, a problem with such a simple referencing statement is that a person reading it who is unfamiliar with a "pattern-of-three" may be inclined to interpret this in a singular way such as for example in the sequential order of what are called Natural numbers, either written as symbols (1- 2- 3) or words (one, two, three), each of which can be separated with some other symbol or fashion in an effort to emphasize an expressed successive singularity. But if one takes a moment to think about it, there are multiple ways in which a pattern-of-three can be expressed, and need not portray what might be called a succession, because they represent a group, a set, a collection, or some other label to express a combination of three items, thoughts, actions, activities, observations, flavors, sounds, feelings, etc., or simply stated with an inclusive word such as perception.
When we speak to the idea concerning a search for some commonality, or some standard, some representative model of what can be termed a community, such as the physiology of all aquatic life forms, or the main diseases of all domesticated animals, or the mind of humans, we wish to find repetitions and then categorize these occurrences according to some proposed hierarchy, such as is described (for example) by the system of notation used in a numbers-related counting assignment (ones- tens, hundreds- thousands... etc...), or an order of operations used to work out a math problem, or the idea of developmental milestones typically assigned to a person's lifetime, or the use of a geological timescale to arrange biological events we might additionally ascribe the idea of evolution to. Yes, there are lots of different patterns one can come to list, and not all of them are used by everyone in the context of trying to identify or assign some sequential numbering system to reference changes, though a given person may in fact rely on multiple numbers whose successiveness is neither acknowledged or understood in the context to which it occurs, thus enabling them to retain some preferred mystique or presumed presence of an underlying code that needs to be broken, but may be incapable of being understood because of a selectively restrictive time period or activity is being focused on.
Just because a presumed professional or expert gives what others claim to be a definitive account of a given subject, one must be ready to re-evaluate their "account" as being an inadequate "count" of occurrences being repeated in either a microcosmic or macroscopic venue. In other words, they are providing you with a poor methodology by which a true count of repetitions is taking place. In order to reach some appreciable measure of recurring cognitive behavior, multiple forms of mental activity need to be taken into the account being tabulated. Far too many so-called researchers looking for some standard or common cognitive pattern to which the words "blueprint, architecture, scaffolding, webbing, inter-connectivity, entanglement, complexity, confluence, etc.", may be used to linguistically entertain by evoking associated imageries to provoke some inclined metaphysical approximation to intrigue one's own budding impressions and undefined analogically attuned preferences encapsulated by a limited vocabulary or knowledge base; does not at all represent the better story review which has yet to be written, much less told or put to use.
Date of (series) Origination: Saturday, 14th March 2020... 6:11 AM
Date of Initial Posting (this page): 1st March 2022... 6:04 AM
Updated Posting:Tuesday, 18th October 2022... 6:19 AM, MST; Albuquerque, NM.