The Beauty of Three

Humans are a beautiful but weird species. As evolved as we are, we still struggle with the simplest things like chaos and chance. Our brains are constantly trying to recognize patterns to create meaning and order to things that oftentimes are just random. This quest to find patterns in things has led us to see the world in threes, the smallest number of occurrences it takes for something to become, at least to us, a pattern.

When we see something the first time, it's an accident, a thing of chance. When we see it the second time, it becomes a coincidence, something to pause and think about, but not enough to make us stop in our tracks. When we see something for a third time, though, it becomes a pattern because our brains are designed to see the third occurrence as a pattern. The number three has become more significant to humanity than any other whole number.

I find it quite poetic that it's three Latin words that describe the divinity that humans have given to the number three, translated to mean everything that comes in threes is perfect. It preaches that three is the number of completion, of perfection, of harmony. When you look around our world, it's hard to argue against this philosophy. The number three is everywhere and serves as an important purpose in almost every aspect of our lives. It cuts across religions, traditions, and philosophies.

The best expression of this philosophy is in human life itself. One day we're born, one day we die, and we live the rest of our lives in between three. That life is also in three parts, or as we refer to it, three developmental stages: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. In most parts of the world, we also spread out our school systems into these three stages. In childhood, it's primary education; when we become adolescents, it's secondary education; and when we're adults, it's tertiary education.

You see, except in the phrase "beginning, middle, and end," the number three does not signify the end; it signifies the completion of the necessary. Yes, you can break down the developmental stages of life further. You can split education into more stages. You can create more than three. There would always be four, five, and six. But at the end of the day, when all is said and done, when push comes to shove, three is the least amount of options we need to make it make sense, to make it feel rounded, to make it feel complete.

Many religions around the world use the concept of threes. In Hinduism, there's Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh. In Christianity, it's God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Greek mythology, it's Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. In Judaism, there are three patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I could go on and on and on, but I'm sure you get the point. These are all religions from all over the world, all ascribing a certain importance to the number three long before they ever interacted with one another.

And it makes sense; just look out into nature, and you'll recognize threes all around us. Look up into the sky, and you'll see the sun, the moon, and the stars. Before we discovered fire, there were only three fundamental elements available to us: earth, sea, and air. We observe the world in three dimensions: length, width, and height. We can move left to right, forward to backward, and up and down.

The objects we use every day, from the houses we live in to the vehicles we use for transportation—whether it's by land, sea, or air—all exist in these three dimensions: length, width, and height. Even the way we perceive time is in threes: past, present, and future; beginning, middle, and end; yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It's no wonder that, long before mathematics and physics were a thing, we could feel and understand the uniqueness of the number three in our world.

It's for these reasons that people from all around the world, raised on different beliefs and traditions, all have that feeling deep inside their chest that the number three is just perfect. The point where everything comes full circle, where everything before was incomplete, and everything after is simply an addition. Think about it: the triangle is the first shape with straight lines that can close off. If your goal was...