The Perfect Storm

Threes are popularized by events and episodes as well.  The idea of a perfect storm is a recurring theme that today helps to explain the combination of three elements that create a result far greater than each one has the potential to produce by itself or even when two are combined.  The Perfect Storm started as a depiction of a meteorological oddity.

As we await the arrival of the “Frankenstorm” that is about to pummel the Mid-Atlantic states, we can recall another similar scenario.  The powerful nor’easter of October 1991 that formed off the coast of Massachusetts became the antecedent for the currently popular term.  Eventually to be described in a best-selling book by journalist Sebastian Junger and then depicted in a movie, the storm perfected itself as warm air from a low-pressure system arriving from the southwest met cool, dry air generated by high-pressure to the north and tropical moisture provided by Hurricane Grace, which was dying out off the East Coast of the United States as it moved into the colder waters of the north Atlantic.  The three ingredients produced rain, strong winds and 100 foot waves in the ocean.   

Now we use “Perfect Storm” as a metaphor to describe situations that result from a combination of three ingredients in a potent mix.  We see the reference often.  

Water 

Combinations of atoms can create molecules.  The atomic chain lengthens from particles to atoms to molecules.  Water molecules formed in a combination of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom represented as H₂O contain three atoms total.  Water covers two-thirds of the earth’s surface.  The other surface is solid.  The whole thing is enveloped in gas.  Liquid, solid, gas.  Sea, land and air.  That’s our world.  Of all the water on the surface only 3% is fresh water.  Of that three per cent, 2% is locked up in ice and 1% flows freely as streams and rivers and creates ponds and lakes.  There is a lot of water on our planet and not much anywhere else in the universe, we think.  These three atoms in their unique combination sustain all life.  

“Water is the strangest, most ubiquitous substance on earth.  Its solid form is less dense than its liquid form, which is why ice floats.  It can absorb large amounts of heat without changing very much, which is why coastal towns have moderate temperatures.  And, it has a ‘skin,’ a thin layer of molecules that try to stick together at the surface.

“Water’s unusual properties are the result of its shape….It looks like Mickey Mouse: the two hydrogen atoms are the ears, and the oxygen atom is the head.  Because electrons aren’t distributed evenly in the water molecule, the ears are positively charged and the head is negatively charged.  Since opposites attract, the ears of one molecule are attracted to the chin of another water molecule, forming a hydrogen bond.  In ice, water molecules bond together stably to form a tetrahedron, a four-sided pyramid.  But in liquid the structure of the water molecules is looser.  Hydrogen bonds are constantly breaking up and getting back together.  In fact, the average hydrogen bond lasts only a fraction of a second.”  Elsewhere on earth and perhaps nowhere else in our expanding universe are we concerned with life, life forms and living things, most of which require water in some form for sustenance.

Play Ball!

As we near the end of another season of Major League Baseball, we can pause to think about threes in baseball.  Of The Big Three professional sports in the U.S., baseball, football and basketball, baseball is loaded with threes.  Baseball is three strikes, three outs, nine innings, nine players, and three bases (the fourth is called home plate).  Baseball is scored in hits, runs and errors.  Batters are at the plate, on deck or in the hole.  Baseball is the quintessential natural threes in sport.  Baseball has the Triple Crown, which is awarded when one player in either the American League or the National League (or in some rare cases all of Major League Baseball) has the highest batting average, the most home runs and the most runs batted in during a single season.  Before Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown last week, Carl Yastremski was the last player to do it 45 years earlier while playing for the Boston Red Sox.  Only 14 players have achieved the feat.  Pitchers also have a triple crown for most wins, best earned run average and most strikeouts in a single season.  Winning the pitching Triple Crown has occurred more often.  Grover Cleveland Alexander did it three times.  

Three Types of Attitude

Anything, we are taught, can be accomplished with the right attitude.  Attitudes, though, come in varying degrees, particularly when they are part of a relationship with another person. 

There are three categories of human attitude, writes Meera Seshadri.  The first category includes those who have a ''You're right, I'm wrong'' attitude.  The second category has an ''I'm right, you're wrong'' attitude.  The third group believes in ''You're right, so am I.''

Those under "You're right, I'm wrong" category are generally subservient and agree easily with views of other people.  Those who belong to "I'm right, you're wrong" category are often vocal and vehement.  They often embark on 'sparring sessions' with everyone just to prove what they believe is universally true.   

Those who believe "You're right and so am I" are the most prudent, pragmatic and wise.  Though they are prepared to assimilate good points from other people (and even acknowledge another’s good qualities), they live life on self-dictated terms.  Being good listeners, they respect other viewpoints but finally do what they deem to be right.  They never take devious routes to attain success, nor do they pull someone down so they to climb the ladder.  They are so confident of themselves that they don't bother proving their skills and intelligence before others.