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Roberto FE Soto is a true trailblazer in media and education, with a deep personal foundation. He is the third of three brothers. The teacher’s name was Aristotle, and his book was published more than three hundred years before the birth of Christ. Here’s the biggest point he drilled into his students.
Omne trium perfectum.
Three is perfection.
Ancient Greeks didn’t know why three was such a powerful number, but they recognized that it was. They saw it everywhere and recognized the power of three to move people. It still is everywhere. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
How to save a life? Stop, look, and listen. Stop, drop, and roll.
The military teaches soldiers that if they’re ever taken prisoner, their directive is simple. Stay together, stay safe, and return.
We stand in court and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and our final will says we give, devise, and bequeath.
The Declaration of Independence is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The Gettysburg Address says, “of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Apple shot to the top of the tech industry with three-word product descriptions.
— Thin. Light. Powerful.
— Reliable. Durable. Quiet
— Fast, convenient, and secure.
Back in the 1590s, Shakespeare knew it, too.
The opening line of Julius Caesar is “Friends, Romans, Countrymen…”
And Caesar’s famous “Veni, vidi, vici.” (I came, I saw, I conquered.)
And when the witches of Macbeth repeat everything three times.
Omne trium perfectum.
The rule of three is all over the art world, too.
Three primary colors. Red, yellow, and blue. With them, we can paint a rainbow, every color seen by the human eye. Every artist and photographer learns the rule of thirds. Draw a grid of nine squares. Three across, three down. The best images will always have the focal point where the lines intersect. Always.
Today we know why the rule of three is so powerful.
The human brain is a pattern-seeking machine. Our brain looks for patterns, and when it spots a pattern, it pushes all the buttons like lining up the numbers at the casino and having money pour out, except it’s a chemical prize we get.
Happy reward chemicals flood our brain every time we spot a pattern. And the smallest and first number the human brain identifies as a pattern is three.
Omne trium perfectum. Three is perfection.
