John writes that "three can make seven" and develops the idea in ways
that I'll explore for a while. Thanks for that. A friend introduced
me to some esoteric numbers theory that has properties assigned to
all numbers. I've found them interesting when exploring
organisational design and communication relationships. They may
relate to John's (and Pierce's) numbers.
one - unity
two - harmony (thru discord)
three - relationship
four - order
five - transformation
It goes higher but left me behind in levels of mysticism or being
that didn't have meaning for me.
There is an important point to what John has proposed that is worth
exploring in depth. Accepting the order of 3 plus their
relationships of 4, the original "3" isn't fixed. That is, the
results from the interplay of the three will produce complex results
(or patterns) which themselves will form into new elements (new
"3"'s) and form new interactions and new results. What we will have
is continually increasing levels of complexity - but no increasing
difficulty in understanding.
The possibility of using John's "ordering principle" in a dynamic way
is that we can get to a useful "heart of the matter" and then
continue to grow and build without losing effective understanding or
meaning.
By the way, I refer to them as John's rather than Pierce's as he
referred to, rather in the way of some Native Americans. That is,
they have a language without cause and effect and without "proof".
In that language, there have only who said, who they said they heard
it from (in sometimes very long strings) and who actually saw the
original event. A very useful tool and an interesting challenge to
live in that way of thinking/speaking for a while.
-- Michael McMaster Michael@kbddean.demon.co.uk