Stop selling me trichotomies! – Pursuit Of Laziness – A blog by Jesse Duffield
If you’ve ever taken a class in persuasive language, or if you’ve ever joined a debating club, or if you’ve ever listened to a politician’s speech, you’ll know that humans love their triplets:
Why does the number three hold such a special place in the human heart? Well, with two points you can only form a line in one-dimension (boring and useless), but with three points you get promoted into the second dimension with a triangle (exciting, and powerful). You might think that structures with four points (like squares) are the backbone of 3D environments. Nope! four points is overkill; zoom into any computer-generated 3D environment and you’ll find it’s all composed of little triangles.
Triangles are central to structural engineering: we use trusses (triangular structures) in our tables, bridges, and roofs to prevent them from collapsing under force. MythBusters proclaimed that triangles are the strongest shape.
Okay, so triangles are important in our three-dimensional world. Why, then, are humans so hypnotised by triplets in spoken language?
