Tag Archives: rule of three

June 23, 2021

“For the Third Time…”

First there was On the Count of Three, which introduced the fundamental notion of triples. There was actually a prequel of sorts years before — very appropriately a trifecta challenge — about the actual Count of Three and his rabbit fur cloak).

Then came the sequel, Three-peat, which explored the world of triples in more detail. That world spans the gamut from witches to transistors to music theory. (Triples cover a lot of ground!)

Now, at last, the exciting final post of the trilogy! Will the three heroes finally find the three keys, defeat the three dragons, and save the Three Kingdoms?

20 Comments | tags: rule of three, three, trinary, triple, Yin and Yang | posted in Basics

February 15, 2016

Three-peat

By Wyrd Smythe

three Last fall I kicked off a series of math-y posts with On the Count of Three, some thoughts about the groupings of three that occur around us, both naturally and in things we create. The idea of triplets is an obvious progression from the idea of binary opposition — quintessentially expressed in the metaphor of Yin and Yang.

Ever since that post, I’ve been noticing (and then noting) various instances of triplets. It really is a fundamental way reality expresses itself. (And more than just metaphorically — matter literally has three-ness!)

Here are some of the other triples I’ve noted…

34 Comments | tags: musical chord, musical key, Night Court, rule of three, storytelling, three, transistor, trinary, triple, witches, Yin and Yang | posted in Basics, Philosophy

October 11, 2015

On the Count of Three

By Wyrd Smythe

three The seventh post I published here, Yin and Yang, introduced my fascination with the Yin-Yang idea of duality, that life is filled with pairs of opposites (left–right, day–night, black–white). Since then I’ve written a number of posts about some of those pairs.

In that first post I mentioned that life was also filled with threes (and some of the other numbers, but especially threes). As we look around, we see an awful lot of things that do come in triplets. Today I thought I’d finally get around to tripping on life’s triples.

Ready? Then: One,… Two,… Three,… Let’s go!

10 Comments | tags: rule of three, three, three-legged, three-pole, triangle, tricycle, trilogy, trinary, triple, tripod, Yin and Yang | posted in Life

October 13, 2012

BB #15: Trifecta: Count of Three

By Wyrd Smythe

You never know what will bubble up when you poke around the interweb. I was browsing about, a bit blurry after couch snoozing all morning, and stumbled on a writing contest that tickled my fancy.