4 ms·
The rule of three is also a decorating rule. You should always clump picture, vases, etc. in clumps of three. The reason always given is balance. Three esthetic
by toddh 7y ago
The rule of three is also a decorating rule. You should always clump picture, vases, etc. in clumps of three. The reason always given is balance. Three esthetically produces the best visual balance. Maybe the universe has an esthetic sense?
- waterheater 7y agoHacker News is not the correct venue to discuss mysticism, occultism, and esotericism more generally. What I'll say on the matter is that both religious and esoteric texts place high importance on groupings like this. Certain texts may provide explanation for the generations of particles. They are worth investigating with an independent mind, while assuming that what you're reading is incorrect.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y agoWhat is an "independent mind"?
- waterheater 7y agoSome people view those texts as infallible sources of information. Other people view those texts not as sources of information at all but as lunacy. The reality is somewhere in the middle, but it's also a spectrum. Science verifies information. The issue with these texts is that it's very, very hard to verify anything being said. It's much easier to provide counterexamples to disprove it. By using the phrase "independent mind," I mean: it's worthwhile investigating these texts, but go in with a truth-seeking mentality, not a disproving mentality.
- atombender 7y agoI question the universality of this rule. What makes two vases on a table less "balanced" than three? What about a single vase? Four? Five? Symmetry in physics isn't really about aesthetics.
- krapp 7y agoFor that matter, some people find asymmetry to be more aesthetically pleasing than symmetry.
- airstrike 7y ago> What makes two vases on a table less "balanced" than three? Perhaps two points create an implied line that cuts across the table, where as three or more create a polygon that fits -within- the table with some balanced amount of space between the polygon sides and the table sides. Alternatively (but perhaps similarly), it's the same reason why two-legged tables don't really exist.
- abiogenesis 7y agoTwo-legged tables don't exist because the minimum number of points to define a plane is 3.
- nshm 7y agoThree is actually the only choice for harmony. > What makes two vases on a table less "balanced" than three? Two leads to dialectic competition between them. > What about a single vase? Static world > Four? Five? Chaos
- hanoz 7y agoIndeed. In my experience of vases, which comes entirely from the BBC's "Antiques Roadshow", they famously come in pairs.
- edejong 7y agoYes, of course that number is sacred! Just ignore all the following examples: there are four bases in our DNA. Most animals have four feet. The vallancy of carbon (basis of life on earth) is four. We have four fundamental forces. The New Testament has four evangelists. Our economy runs on $, which happens to be above the number 4! Obviously, four is the universal balancing number! \s
- YaxelPerez 7y agoAh, a fellow disciple of the Time Cube I see.
- edejong 7y agoomg, that brings back memories!
- amelius 7y agoThe universe also has 3 spatial dimensions.
- nixpulvis 7y agoIn photography it's called "The Rule of Thirds".
- zhte415 7y agoThis really depends on culture. China/Chinese, for example, emphasises balance via symmetry. Hanzi are balances by layout into 4 grids (even practice books have a 2x2 grid for a character) - yes I am aware some characters have 1, 3 or 5 particles however these also fit within this grid. Design of architecture is based around 2s and 4s, leading to relatively 'square' stuff (easy example, see the layout of the Forbidden City) and, sometimes, within this, the concept of non-uniformity. I think the rule-of-three is quite culturally specific.