(aka: The Standard Cognitive Model)
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Progressive Thinkers as of 5/8/2020
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Using the word "Cognitive" in the title has been causing many would-be readers to divert their attention elsewhere, whereby any content I have that might have been useful, is not to be uncovered at this time. The word "mental" is not so abstrusive or obtrusive to the general reader (though these two words might be).
This site discusses patterns revealed by simple numbers. I say "patterns" because they either repeat openly or are absent. Absence is also a pattern that repeats. For example, if we go to one culture the people in it may commonly refer to a number "7" or "4" or "8", etc., has having a special reference for many in a given population. Whereas another culture may exhibit some routine usage of yet a different number such as "3", but need not necessarily be aware that they are doing so. The same goes for the cultures of a given subject or a given group such as a business. Within the culture there usually exists an underlying number pattern which may not necessarily be exhibited by a numerical symbol, but may be expressed with words, gestures, tasks being performed (such as three tasks being required of many a Fairy tale character), or something that is constructed.
For example, once when I worked decades ago in a cubicle (at a Bank) with two others, one of the female associates pointed out that each of us as a colored pen in hand that matched our clothing being worn that day. It was true. Neither I nor the other female associate had been aware of the correlation. Needless to say the event stuck in my mind, making we wonder how many other patterns I was overlooking on a day-to-day occurrence, particularly since I had an avid interest in the threes phenomena. It was a time prior to my having the "Threes" poster printed up after I resigned due in large part to being moved to a different department under the control of someone who was, along with the other employees completely intolerable to work for, and there was no other recourse that I wanted to take at the time which suited me. It was a rather fortuitous event since I began to work on combining the many divergent examples of threes ideas I had already collected on previous occasions, into some manageable composite... from which was produced a poster. It was the largest that could be printed in the location where I was at and even required the company to purchase large printing plates for the task to be completed, as well as printing on both sides. I had to leave off so very many examples— and those which I did collate, had to be condensed in font size in order that they could be included.
At present I am contemplating having another, much larger poster being printed, but with a different overall plan as to how examples should be compiled. However, I like the idea of a youtube presentation and in a larger format, a larger movie production with a storyline where the threes phenomena is involved from various vantage points and genres of contemplation. Such a movie would be quite fun and eye opening since it would involve many cultures and many subjects in many different venues. My attempt to win the Powerball lottery a few days ago fell through. I wanted to use the funds to pay for the ideas I have in mind, as well as help out several people who are presently struggling. Despite not winning the lottery, I have had an ongoing suspicion that it is not played with forthright fairness. There are too many situations viewed both collectively and individually which bespeak of shenanigans taking place, as if being confronted by loaded dice, marked cards, sleight-of-hand pick pocketing and roulette wheel chicanery... fully protected by the government more interested in getting its cut of ill-gotten gains (are you listening SEC and Garden City Group?), than in protecting the public from such duplicity.
On Monday the 7th of November 2022, (today is Thursday), the Powerball lottery in the US was the largest ever at 2.4 Billion dollars. The winning ticket was supposedly sold at a Joe's service center. However, if no one were to come forward, then the money would be kept by the Lottery office and not added to the next drawing. Such a situation has occurred before in other lottery games, which makes many of us suspicious because the overall result is not one of fairness to the people who have invested their money in the game, but enriches the lottery system and those that benefit from it behind the scenes. The money can very well be moved along a course which makes for a slush or rainy day fund for activities not conducive to the overall benefit of the public, but for some singular institution or individual, despite any claims to the contrary made by the Lottery commission. Where there is large amounts of money there typically is greed and if necessary, corruption to assist those who get used to having their greed fulfilled and sustained. but let me provide a short message (I have thus elaborated on at this moment) sent to several people I know that had invested in the Powerball Lottery on Monday for a chance to win:
I am suspicious of the Powerball turnout. Not only does no one in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas win, but this can be said the same for most places... even though the population count in all the remaining places dwarfs that of California.
It is past time to decide not to play the Powerball since it is highly suspicious that someone in California has won again.
The argument that California has a lot of people and therefore makes it more probable that a winning ticket will show up in a large population area doesn't hold when compared to the many other people not living in California who also played, and thus constitutes a much larger population. The system seems rigged by the fact that winning tickets are generated in the same State far too often. This has nothing to do with population size but the algorithm being used to generate numbers for given machines in given places. Not only did a person in California win, but two runner ups (getting five instead of six correct numbers) had been previously noted as also living in the same state.
It is also highly suspicious that after months of having no winner in which the total of the Powerball was permitted to reach a value of a billion dollars, that all of a sudden we not only have a winner... despite an increased number of people buying a ticket at the same time, but the winner is one person who lives in California. There is truly something amiss, despite all the rationalizations to the contrary. And it should be noted that when the lottery wants to draw more people from an area such as Utah (which has no lottery) to purchase a ticket from a state (such as Arizona which does have a lottery system), they simply create a situation in which a person wins a million dollars from a ticket purchased through a retailer that is about 30 miles away from St. George, Utah... to a place called Beaver Dam, Arizona. No doubt similar gaming ploys have been used in different parts of the country but no one has yet made a survey of this rigged gaming technique used by the lottery system. The lottery system in the US has a deliberately poor oversight because of the types of hands in the pot... particularly government institutions claiming they are beneficial to the people.
What is further suspicious is that there is no public listing of how many tickets for each game are bought for each draw and the overall count, so as to determining how much money is actually being generated and being counted, instead of being diverted from the overall amount to be won so as to fulfill other, behind-the-scene purchases and funding collections. Whereas there is a need to be suspicious of the lottery system in the US, I watched a professional cycling event in which one of the teams was being funded by a lottery system! There should be no such excess!!! This is just as bad as the money from tithing being wasted by religious institutions, and the excess fees consumers are having to pay for goods that are too over-priced... and yet, there is no real consumer protection from such gaming techniques used by religion, casinos, lottery systems, governments and businesses. The people of the world are getting screwed left and right, up an down, as well as diagonally.
In closing, We need to change our strategy. How about if we "simply" rob Fort Knox? Then again, imagine anyone else wanting to establish a more honest lottery system. The first to argue against it would no doubt be the government itself, because it would then have to conjure some other type of patriotically-aligned illusion of lawfulness... and good-for-democracy righteousness where in proving the honesty of the present lottery system, people in states other than those with the typical lottery winners, would become winners and thus "prove" that the lottery is honest and fair... just so long as the government has an unseen influence on how it is rigged (but total deniability) in its favor (and shared with other, like-minded interested parties) or are enabled to manipulate the algorithms to provide winners showing in a given area as a 3 shells or 3-card Monte game ruse that is meant to manipulate the public's view in favor of the rigged lottery system (because that is the type of system they grew up with and know best), to go along with the other government controlled riggings (voting, housing, science funding, contract allowances, budgeting, self-entitlements, etc...) to ensure control by a very few and the rest are cast into subservient roles of indentureship which disenfranchises most for being able to actively participate in the system of governance by way of a token expression (involving a stupid formula of vicarious representation instead of a Cenocracy with a tricameral model of legislature-ship) by being able to vote in the lesser of two or more evils or those who are "competently incompetent" for a given professional position; of which societies the world over no doubt have to contend with as a standard of living on an incrementally deteriorating planet... (and my comments are meant as an optimism for future generations to look forward to in the quality and quantity of deception they will be confronted with as resources become more scarce and all institutions will have to resort to either direct force, or more creative tactics for instilling the public with delusions of some eventual improvement to take place).
Fort Knox is a major U.S. military reservation in Meade, Hardin, and Bullitt counties, northern Kentucky, U.S. It lies 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Louisville and occupies an area of 172 square miles (445 square km). Established in 1918 as Camp Knox (named for Major General Henry Knox, first U.S. secretary of war), it became a permanent military post in 1932. For maximum security the U.S. Bullion Depository, a solid square bomb-proof structure with mechanical protective devices, was built there in 1936 to hold the bulk of the nation's gold reserves. During World War II, the gold vault was used as a repository for the original copy of the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, the Magna Carta, and the original draft of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
Since 1940 Fort Knox has been the U.S. Army Armor Headquarters with various training schools; all U.S. Army armored soldiers serve there at least once during their enlistment. Its Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor displays American Civil War weapons and captured enemy weapons. (Source: "Knox, Fort." Encyclopædia Britannica.)
When looking for basic patterns of activity, one needs to adopt some type of measuring tool. Frequently, in different subjects, there is the presence of mathematics, be it on the level of simple enumeration, or some devised alternative order contemplation involving Geometry and/or Algebra and/or Calculus. In the present journal's entries, I am using simple enumeration that is easily recognized in serialized counting such as 1, 2, 3 etc., though humans engage in such an activity in different ways with different symbols and sometimes the absence of one or more symbol that one might expect to be present. However, if a given person is not practiced at providing a routinization of their thoughts/feelings/impressions in a written form, someone else may or may not have taken the time to inscribe such occurrences. It is not customary for a researcher to take time to record verbal expressions or gestures and create a profile of the underlying instances which we might later on describe as a pattern that is present, or one that is absent. Whereas a community may use frequent patterns-of-three, another person in the same culture may exhibit an absence of one or more of these conventions. Hence, a person may have a pattern exhibiting an absence of three distinct patterns others use quite frequently. Thus, both are using patterns-of-three in individual ways. However, though I am referencing patterns-of-three, any pattern, with or without enumeration may be a given topic to be considered.
If we look to Nature as if to claim the presence of a precedent, then one might... for example, look at biology in terms of cellular activity. For example, we have a single cell which divides in two to create multiple cells, and yet the common theme is to describe the human body having three billion cells and a brain which weighs about three pounds. Whether or not one takes an exact measurement, the very idea that the presence of "3" plays such a prominent role is a telling point of human cognitive activity which has repetition. Another "3" generalization is to say the temperature of outer space is about 3 degrees Kelvin. No less, the idea of discussing the birth of the Universe has been expressed in the phrase "The first 3 minutes". In terms of other measurements, the present day inch was once described as the length of three Barley corns set end to end. We also measure ability by way of a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place designation, or in the case of the Olympics, use the three medals gold- silver- bronze. It also is not uncommon for us to encounter someone describing the rate of walking as about 3 miles per hour and that 3 year old horses is the typical age for running in the Triple Crown of Horse racing... not to mention that all the horses registered in the world's stud books can trace their ancestry to three stallions known as Byerly Turk, Goldophin Barb, Darely Arabian, who were survived in a direct line descendancy by King Herod, Matchem, and Eclipse. When we couple this to the usage of a three-patterned Win- Place- Show betting scheme, we should be inclined to think of the pattern as a cognitive standard of recurrence taking place over time in (at least) this subject.
When looking for one or more standards of cognitive activity on basic levels of formation, one should come to recognize the existence of "Ensembles of three" as an example of a three-pattern typically overlooked by those who seek to compile a list of three-patterned ideas... many of whom may well begin by putting together a list of Fairy tales which describe three distinct characters, even while an additional character plays a major role, but are not included in the title of a story. But before providing a short list, let me mention that we can have ensembles of one such as a singular 3, or a double ensemble such as 13, 23, 33, etc., and three-patterned ensembles express a succession such as:
- x- y- z
- 1- 2- 3
- A- B- C
- A2 + B2 = C2
- small- medium- large
- wrist- elbow- shoulder
- monofocals- bifocals- trifocals
- green- yellow- red (traffic light succession)
- Red- White- Blue (sequenced expression of U.S. Flag colors)
- core- mantle- crust
- slow- medium- fast
- here- there- everywhere
- virgin- mother- crone
- new soul- old soul- ancient soul
- virgin- mother- crone
Examples of non-successively occurring Ensembles-of-three can be (despite repetition which could be interpreted as a type of numerical rhyme):
- 000, 111, 222, 333, 444, 555, 666, etc.
- 2- 4- 6, 3- 5- 7, etc.,
- 265, 289, 302, 305, 307, 327, 350, 351, 400, 426, 427, 428, 429, etc... (such as in American V-8 engine cubic inch displacements)
- And- Or- Not
- sine- cosine- tangent
- Heaven- Purgatory- Hell
- Endoderm- Ectoderm- Mesoderm (While "Mesoderm" suggests a 2nd position, it actually arrives 3rd on the development scene of events even though it typically is placed in the middle of the other two. Hence, labels can at times be misleading.)
- ring- rang- rung
- Masculine- Feminine- Neuter
- Yin- Yang- Unity
- 5- 7- 9, 1- 6- 10,
- 2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits (a dollar... there are no "dollar bits" spoken of [in this jr. high and high school level of] cheerleading example)
Also, an ensemble can be implied in those instances in which a full three-pattern is not evident or some measure of reversal has taken place.
Let me provide a short list of three-patterned ideas in Fairy tales and Myths, knowing all too well different types of analysis can take place with the characters, content, origination, comparison with other stories, etc...
- The 3 Bears (Goldilocks)
- The 3 pigs (wolf)
- Hansel, Gretal, the Witch (and sometimes a huntsman)
- The 3 Billy goats gruff
- The 3 fiddlers (Old King Cole)
- Cinderella, Drizella, Anastasia (Fairy godmother, Mother, Prince)
- Snow White (singularity... a white dwarf?)- Seven Dwarfs (7 constellation)- Queen/Witch (Duality... a black hole?)... [Prince Charming]...
- 3 Blind Mice
- Bag(s) of coins, Singing harp, Golden egg-laying goose (Jack and the Bean stalk)
- Three stages in life: birth, marriage, death (multiple cultures)
- 3 cultural traits of Great Britain: Humour, tradition, and good manners are characteristics commonly associated with being English. Culture of England>
- Three Fates (or Moirai) of Greek Mythology: Clotho (the Spinner), Lachesis (the Alloter) and Atropos (the Inflexible). The Fates: The Destiny Goddesses
- Three Furies (The Erinyes): Alecto ("unceasing"), Tisiphone ("avenging murder"), and Megaera ("grudging"). Morrai and Erinyes; brooklyn Museum: The Furies.
- 3 Gorgons (Stheno- the Mighty [strength], Euryale- the Far Springer [endurance], Medusa- the Queen [wisdom])
- Gold, Silver, Bronze (and Iron Races/Ages by Hesiod)
- Pegasus, Unicorn, Centaur (and the Trojan horse)
When speaking of ensembles, let me mention the presence of 3s with 7s, such as the three sevens once seen as a typical illustration of one-armed bandits used in casinos. One can also cite the 21 gun salute used at some funerals as being accomplished by firing 7 rifles 3 times. We can also see the usage when on the one hand we describe 3 layers of skin corresponding to three degrees of burn, while sub-layers create a count of 7. So too when we use the generality of 3 layers to the Earth (core- mantle- crust), with sub-layers bringing the count to seven. While those who favor the number 7 may want to emphasize it and downplay the presence of the three and those who have a preference for the number 3 may want to emphasize it while down playing the presence of the seven, we need to stop doing this and fully appreciate the presence of both as both singular and connected instances of a recurring cognitive pattern by way of enumeration. While such an occurrence takes place in several instances, it does not occur always and does not over-shadow individual instances of either the 3 or 7. Ensembles are necessarily to be noted since they may reference a changing cognition such as in terms of coalescence. Two different number patterns placed together can be viewed as yet another pattern which occurs from time to time, despite one's proclivity to emphasize, demonize or make excuses for.
Looking for cognitive standards by way of a simple tool such as enumeration attempts to achieve a greater level of honesty and clarity, despite the fact that numbers are an artificially created doodle of human physiology and the medium used to inscribe it such as soil, bone, paper, computer screen, rock, stone, canvas, etc... By using numbers and noting the sequence which has been developed and then using this in a one-to-one fashion of direct correspondence, analogy or metaphor; we can look for natural events which may or may not provide an illustration. Take for example the idea of how the Universe came into being. Was their some sort of hodge-podge chaos which preceded a single event, or was there a single event which described some measure of 2 or a second event, and then 3 or a third event, followed by further enumeration or was met with expression whose representation is better explained by a word such a multiplicity or some "poly", similar to the idea that earlier humans than our present day selves developed a scheme of enumeration... a counting theme, which followed a sequence where an identifiable "1" eventually arose followed some time by an identifiable "2"... perhaps by the occasion of mere pairing or 1 and 1 association, but that between the realizations was a period in which that number beyond the "1" and then beyond the "2" was at first viewed as a vast sum, called heap, much, more, plenty, many or otherwise in some language equivalent way, and is very similar or the same as we of the present day using the term "infinity"?
Where it is a common notion for present day humans to think of themselves as being more advanced then their distant forbearers, and with this assumption is denied the accompanying view that present day humans are also primitives; it behooves us to reconstruct the image of ourselves so that it reflects the position of our actual ignorance... to the extent that all are so-called advanced subject matter is in its own way equivalent to the crude and superstitious beginnings from which present day so-called advanced ideas arose. Treating our present day ideas as if they represent some ultimate superiority of thought that can not be improved upon creates a false cacoon from which no butterfly level of emergence can be obtained in human thought or action.
I once witnessed a group of great apes who had been kept caged in a small enclosure, being given the opportunity to move into a much larger area filled with various climbing apparatus. At first, none of the apes would leave due to an uncertainty and fearfulness of the new environment, even though there were no predators. Eventually one did make a break from their smaller cage and headed to the lofted position of a higher vantage point. However, it took the chimp keepers a large amount of prompting with food rewards to eventually get all of them out of their small cages. They had become so used to the security of the confined pages from which they surveyed the world and no doubt developed some chimp-type of philosophy, that the presence of a larger enclosure could not at first be seen as an opportunity for growth. However, without being able to accurately survey the thoughts of chimps, we do not know how much of the previous philosophy was simply adapted to the larger surroundings. For example, instead of counting up to 1, did they now count up to 2? While simplistic, the analogy works well for those who do not need further explanation as to the commonality that a sequential number series can be used to describe where one was to where one had moved on to. The same goes for all of humanity's progress. While different subject areas represent relative small cages from which a person peruses he world and activities about them, we do not know how much different human cognitive patterning has actually changed from when humanity lived for centuries in the small cages of a tribe, a clan, as a slave, as an inhabitant of a place where the standard view was to see the world as a small place, and in particular, one's place in a kingdom placed at the center of a map. Since so many people stayed close to a given area, this mindset may well be retained in the human psyche and influences the extent to which human mental processes will venture forth from. Identifying standards of human cognitive activity and changes over time, may well assist humanity in identifying truly where (and perhaps what age/era... that is when) it is, so as to create a means by which humanity is let out of its mental cages to fully explore beyond its mental confinements, whatever they may be, and have no need of using artificial substances in trying to achieve a greater freedom. Be it the drugs of religion, science, alcohol, narcotics, politics, war, sports, music, mathematics, acting, tobacco, promiscuity, dance, business, academics, art, gaming, criminality, or whatever one's drug(s) of choice is, and however one rationalizes its favorability.
I sometimes see myself as the proverbial monkey who is placed before a typewriter and that given enough time, will eventually construct some recognizable illustration comparable to a novice, journeyman or master craftsman: though I think the idea is more closely aligned with giving reference to some work of Shakespeare. (See: Infinite Monkey Theory) Though as useful as were the ideas of Shakespeare (or Blake, or whomever is given credit for the labeled Shakespearean works), as they were for me for thoughts I indulged in as a toddler; later years and accompanying experiences has led me to view such works as rather puerile if not childish in several instances. One has to learn not only to through the antiquated garments, settings and language, but the ideas being expressed are more appropriate for a soap opera, comic book, sports, or playboy magazine audience. They are so laughably ridiculous as to be just as absurd as an adolescent describing an interest in the articles when it is the pictures they are truly focused on.
To be critical of Shakespeare as to be critical of Einstein, or any composer and Nobel laureate may seem to invite criticism to oneself except when realizing that it is a desirable consideration into allowing for the possibility that some greater perception awaits us, but will be more difficult to be realized if all present and former god-like representatives of a given subject are held in such high regard their views and their efforts are never questioned, much less ventured beyond. While some reader may want to describe my view as someone who has lost or losing their mind, I would say thank you. Losing one's mind is a necessity for finding a better one. While mastering someone else's ideas is good for an academic degree, a PhD requires original work. Blazing one's own trail frequently means losing one's way, or losing the way multiple others likewise follow; thinking that their personal antics along the way is an indication they are on a new path. Yet, simply calling a rose a weed, does not mean you have found a new species. Name calling is frequently child's play to the needed courage, effort and dedication required to ford a stream, river, ocean... or even galaxy. Granted it is of need to observe sign posts and restrictions within the constraints of a defined parameter of exploration, unless of course the previous exploration is based more on cultural taboos and not rational objectivity. While some come to claim they have stood on the shoulders of giants, others come to realize that even the height of a common person can be perceived to be a giant from the perspective of a pygmy. Shakespeare, Beethoven, Leonardo Davinci, Einstein, Edison, etc., were all average people in below average circumstances in their respective eras.
I do not know for certain if anyone in any past culture actually took an interest in a given number pattern in a collective sense that can be done today, since the wide berth of information from different subjects did not exist to be perused as one might on the present day internet. As far as I can gather, and of course I could be wrong, there was no one in the past actively making a list of examples referencing a given number, even though "7" is said to have been viewed as a sacred number... no doubt, as I have mentioned before, apparently getting its influence from the quantity of stars in the Pleiades (seven sisters), the Big Dipper, and Ancient skygazers applied the term planet to the seven celestial bodies that were observed to move appreciably against the background of the apparently fixed stars. These included the Sun and Earth's Moon, as well as the five planets in the modern sense— Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. (Example procured from the Britannica.) However, there is one "7" example that is not common, namely that there are seven "teen" numbers: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. (I discovered this while musing one day.) There is also the idea that a dog's life is equal to seven years of a human. Others, might reference the refrain of examples such as:
- Seven wonders of the ancient world (from the Britannica):
- Pyramids of Giza
- Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- Statue of Zeus at Olympia
- Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
- Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
- Colossus of Rhodes
- Pharos of Alexandria, the most famous lighthouse of the ancient world
- The seven sins of the Roman Catholic church (from the Britannica):
- vainglory, or pride
- greed, or covetousness
- lust, or inordinate or illicit sexual desire
- envy
- gluttony, which is usually understood to include drunkenness
- wrath, or anger
- sloth
- Seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia (all but Antarctica are wedge... triangular... shaped: from the Britannica)
The sum of the spiritual 3 and the material 4 is 7. In medieval education, students pursued the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic) and the quadrivium (music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy), a total of seven subjects, collectively known as the liberal arts. Pythagorean interest in the mathematical patterns in music gives 7 a privileged role, for there are seven distinct notes in the musical scale—corresponding roughly to the white notes on a piano. Counting from 1, the eighth note up the scale is the exceedingly harmonious octave, which is how the name arose.
The number 7 is often considered lucky, and it has a definite mystique, perhaps because it is a prime number—that is, it cannot be obtained by multiplying two smaller numbers together. There are seven days of the week, named after various ancient gods and planets (Sun-day, Moon-day, Tiw's-day, Woden's-day, Thor's-day, Frigg's-day, Saturn-day). Tiw was a Norse god of war, parallel to Mars in role but to Zeus in etymology, and Frigg was the Old English version of Frea (or Freya), wife of Woden (= Odin).
Shakespeare wrote of the seven ages of man, an idea that goes back much earlier. In China 7 determines the stages of female life: a girl gets her "milk teeth" at seven months, loses them at seven years, reaches puberty at 2 × 7 = 14 years, and reaches menopause at 7 × 7 = 49. The phases of the Moon last approximately seven days, with 4 × 7 = 28 days in a month and also in a female menstrual period. Many cultures recognized seven planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) in the sense of "wandering bodies," unlike the "fixed stars," which retain the same relative position in the night sky. The seven candles of the Jewish menorah that burned in the Tabernacle symbolized the Creation and, according to the English scholar Robert Graves, may be connected to the seven planets of antiquity.
In ancient Egypt there were seven paths to heaven and seven heavenly cows; Osiris led his father through seven halls of the underworld. The seven deadly sins are well-known in Christian tradition. The number 7 was the fundamental number of the Rosicrucians, who used it as an organizational basis for their text Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreutz (1459; Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross). The number was also central to the cult of Mithra, which believed the soul rose to paradise through seven planetary spheres. The Christian idea of seven layers of purgatory may be related.
The number 7 features prominently in folk sayings. Breaking a mirror leads to seven years of bad luck. In Iran a cat has seven lives, not the nine of Western myth.
The most common numbers in the Indian Vedas are 3 and 7. Agni, the god of fire, has seven wives, mothers, or sisters and can produce seven flames. The sun god has seven horses to pull his heavenly chariot. In the Rigveda there are seven parts of the world, seven seasons, and seven heavenly fortresses. The cow has 21 = 3 × 7 names.
In the Hippocratic tradition of medicine, 7 rules the illnesses of the body, with painful illnesses lasting 7, 14, or 21 days. In Germany it was believed that pigs would not contract hog cholera if they were treated for seven days with water containing asphodel. In Jewish magic a fever can be cured by taking seven prickles from seven palm trees, seven chips from seven beams, seven nails from seven bridges, seven ashes from seven ovens…terminating in seven hairs from the beard of an old dog. (Source: "number symbolism." Encyclopædia Britannica, Ultimate Reference Suite.)
In present day terms one might also describe the seven colors of the electro-magnetic spectrum typically illustrated in a prismatic form, and the notion of seven layers to the Earth and human skin, if we add sub-layers to the three common layers often used as a general topic of discussion such as core- mantle- crust, and dermis- epidermis- subcutaneous tissue often aligned with three degrees of burn. And let us not forget to mention the three 7's referenced for a slot machine or George Miller's paper on memorization describing a limit in terms of 7, plus or minus 2, though no one making reference to his paper has taken the time to mention that this can be viewed as an equation illustrating a three-patterned ensemble of 5- 7- 9. While many readers will no doubt recognize the "3" often accompanies the "7", the use of the 7 is displayed in reversed from when the number 3 is written in Arabic, and that the 4 looks like a backwards 3 or the English letter E.
It's not that many observers haven't recognized the presence of repetitive figures used in writing, but which of them are most basic and not a product of some cultural artficiality? For example, if we can find the 1, 2, 3 as basic configurations in the past as well as the present albeit with some recognizable differences, are we to conclude these are basic cognitive symbols or simply human-used symbols for illustrating basic cognitive processes which may change over time. And if you are silently saying "so what's the big deal?", the big deal is to reference whether or not there is a change taking place due to incremental environmental deteriorations which we can predict and intervene against... or are we in the thrust of that which creates a lifestyle of rationalization as humanity heads deeper into the abyss of a demise?
While dreaming is a common occurrence in humans, just as some semblance of it may also occur in other life forms, are we ready to claim it as a standard cognitive activity, since some people report they seldom if ever dream? Then again, the recall or recognition of dreaming behavior itself may be a type of cognitive activity which does not occur prominently in all people, though dreaming does occur... if even on subtle or obscure levels of recognition. Nonetheless, is dreaming a behavior that is learned or a product of physiology with perhaps individually-centered imagery?
For example, last night, I would say around 1:00 AM since I was out of bed momentarily to use the restroom and noticed the time. I was awakened by the sight of a dreamscape in which there was a large tree with overhanging branches upon which could be seen three large birds that afterwards were viewed as stone statues of either large owls, hawks, eagles, vultures or blackbirds, though their color was more of a stone grey. I saw another bird that it crossed my mind to shoot at but it stepped back to a position where it could not be seen behind a branch. It was first considered to be blonde in color but now I am thinking a light yellow from head to foot. In any case, I did not get out of bed until after hearing the imaged voice of "3 machines, 3 machines, 3 machines", followed by "third, third, third". I lay in bed a short while afterwards thinking about these three separate but connected occurrences but did not try to analyze them since so very many times I have encountered dream content and dreamscapes in patterns-of-three. And as for the expressions, I did not actually hear them in an auditory sense, but as a non-sounding repetition in my head. It is ridiculous to think of such threes occurrences or any occurrences in dreams for that matter as some mystical code or message. If influenced by current day-time perceptions, so what... They don't repeat night after night after night. Nor do the three-patterned knockings or finding three coins on the ground or some other three-item occurrence like nails, screws or washers.
I don't care to get into a habit of interpreting dream content during a specific time of morning or night as having some personally especial meaning to feed an ego seeking some recognition of having a particular meaning of great importance. Such silliness I can do without. I am more interested in taking a moment to consider whether dreaming behavior can be classified as a recurring cognitive pattern, or do dreams arise on a pre-cognitive level, if we thus describe other life forms (without a distinct cognition) as also dreaming. While different life forms may well be described as having their own species-specific type of cognitive (brain) activity, is it substantially different from human cognition in the resultant form but not functionality? As speculative as all this is, it is of need to be considered when we are looking for recurring cognitive patterns. It at least indicates a willingness to take into consideration alternative ideas which might otherwise be too easily dismissed by those who view humanity as a special case and all other life forms as having little comparison except on the most basic level of chemistry and biology.
While me may generalize and say there is a common occurrence of dream material, specifics may differ. unless we could unravel a common theme occurring in the content of all dreamers. Unfortunately, we have not tried to collect dream material in this sense of exploration. And though there may be similar or identically physiological origins to dream activity, are we ready to describe this as cognitive activity... or do we reserve the label "cognitive activity" to specific content such as that being aligned with consciousness? And in as much as the debate could go one way or another, do we also invite to include memorization, and other characteristics such as gender, age, culture, blood type, etc., as variables of cognitive activity? I will leave this topic for some other venue since it has low interest at the moment and only mentioned due to the series of threes events occurring last night/early this morning. (11/8/2022).
Date of (series) Origination: Saturday, 14th March 2020... 6:11 AM
Date of Initial Posting (this ): 1st March 2022... 6:04 AM
Updated Posting:Friday, 11th November 2022... 9:10 AM, AST (Arizona Standard Time); Marana, AZ.