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| Sunday, 2 October 2005 |
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The ultimate single: numeral Nine (Part one) Kaleidoscope by Rohan Jayawardana A final look at the matter of Numbers (earlier writing on 28/8 and 4/9 unavoidably brings into focus the last of the individual digits, Nine. This digit represents the extreme limit of the human spatial capacity in the counting of single digits because after this point in the process of counting there is a return to Zero and One. Why is it not possible to go further in single numbers? At Ten? The answer is simple: this is the extreme limit of the human spatial capacity in numerals. Subconscious Quite strangely, this numeral capacity of the Mind seems to have worked upon the subconscious state as seen in the following language expressions concerning either a high-point or a "limit": (A) Dressed up to the nines (well dressed) (B) possession is nine points of the Law (ownership in Property Law) (C) A nine days wonder (something or somebody sensational). On the other hand there were other numbers to use, such One (the best?) or Five or Eight! Nevertheless this is the imagination at work and it seems that there is a mind-related factor that cannot be seen; it is the limiting (upper) factor placed by the spectre of Nine (being the final one of the single digits) in the abstract layer of comprehension of the human mind. On the other hand, the ancient Hellenic Greeks had Nine Muses who were deemed patronesses of all liberal arts and stated to be the daughters of the principal god Zeus (and of Mnemosyne). It is also worth noting that the ancient Greek civilization of that period which reached back into the Bronze Age (around 3000 B.C.) had an astonishing mental clarity about matters that have got factually established in all modern minds essentially in the 20th century owing to the work of the fact-based scientists. The Greeks firmly believed that "mother earth" (Gaea) had evolved out of "Chaos"! That was over 5000 years ago; but how? In these circumstances the factor of the Nine Muses has significance as comprehension of fine intellectual output (liberal arts etc.) that brings together TWO concepts out of the abstractions that came forth out of the unrecorded history as items of introspection. In this era have indeed been the Stoics, Homer the poet and others of monumental cerebral prowess. Biblical In the Christian gospel text it is also said that the crucified Jesus Christ died at the Ninth hour (presumably after midnight or 9 a.m.). This could be either (i) without any significance at all and a mere indication of the Time or (ii) with an invisible significance that is not explainable! Nevertheless the calculations of the "hour" etc., on the Gregorian calendar itself came about much later at 1582 A.D. Possibilities of construction The numeral Nine can be achieved by multiplying 3 by 3; or raising to the "third power". This is worth analyzing, but in terms of Thirds of multiple applications. The three measurable Dimensions of existence are: height, width and thickness. This is called the Three-Dimensional state (3-D) of perceivable (physical) existence. Within this life on earth (3D life) the physical sciences that cover the natural phenomena of life are in the subjects of Chemistry, of Physics and in (protoplasm based) Biology. These are also Three. They can usually be sub-divided further by another set of threes: Chemistry: into solids, liquids, gases. Physics: into gravity, electro-magnetism, and nuclear (or the atmospheric pressure?) Biology: into blood/sap; flesh/pulp; bone/wood (DNA coded matter) The three broad DNA types are plant, Animal, Human. Thereby we are left with another Three, giving Six. Beyond this it must be realized that these physical factors of the sciences exist within the verifiable dimensions, which are also Three; showing a configuration of Nine as follows: 3 Dimensions - 3 physical sciences - 3 discernible constructions Sixth sense Similarly, there is some recorded evidence of the existence of Extra Sensory Perception (E.S.P.) which is called the Sixth sense. However the character and the range of its potential are incomprehensible, being of the invisible! Does it lead to Nine capacities? Finally, in the most fundamental of all study of natural life named Quantum Physics, there is a dictum named "Uncertainty Principle" from Werner Heisenberg which won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1932. This rule states that in the matter of the Quanta (of the atom), "there exists a veil beyond which all measurement and observation is impossible". In other words it must necessarily remain undisturbed! Heisenberg is known as the father of Quantum Physics, the study of the atomic structure. It is found here that the harmonised Nature is self-protecting and its fundamental layer cannot be ever observed. This is the point at which there also arises the perceived Nine (another "veil") in the 3-D existence (of 3 layers) and at the point of the incomprehensible 6th sense! They appear to be complementary factors: the first in Nature and the others being in the Brain's invisible capacity which ranges into unfathomable Mind-activity beyond the average. At this point of NINE the ultimate digit, there is an absence of average comprehension and of significance but an inference of balance: this is even as at Eight there is available a pair of Fours and two of Five at No. 10. It is agreed that a "pair" is Balance-giving. Nine is therefore symbolic, is it not, of the "outer" or extreme of universal existence? But it still does not mean "volatility" because it is at the No. 10 position (the No. 1 having been Zero) as already seen in evaluatory terms. There is a notion of balance although at an "odd" number. Otherwise would there not be a plunge into Chaos in human existence, an end of Day and Night? Consequently the natural firmament and the universal laws hold firm. The
glue cannot be seen but Nine is the symbol; perhaps. |
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