Save to My Latticework unsave

Rule of Three
Rule of Three
Rule of Three
save0 saved view14.4K views
Share this with your network
Share this with your network
Overview

Was De La Soul right, is three really the magic number? Dive into this model and decide for yourself. 

< ...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Est tamen ea secundum naturam multoque nos ad se expetendam magis hortatur quam superiora omnia. Sed virtutem ipsam inchoavit, nihil amplius. Duo enim genera quae erant, fecit tria. Hoc simile tandem est? Etsi ea quidem, quae adhuc dixisti, quamvis ad aetatem recte isto modo dicerentur. Duo Reges: constructio interrete.

Polemoni et iam ante Aristoteli ea prima visa sunt, quae paulo ante dixi. Cum id fugiunt, re eadem defendunt, quae Peripatetici, verba. Quae diligentissime contra Aristonem dicuntur a Chryippo. Quod ea non occurrentia fingunt, vincunt Aristonem; Qua tu etiam inprudens utebare non numquam. Non enim iam stirpis bonum quaeret, sed animalis.

Parvi enim primo ortu sic iacent, tamquam omnino sine animo sint. Hoc etsi multimodis reprehendi potest, tamen accipio, quod dant. Graecum enim hunc versum nostis omnes-: Suavis laborum est praeteritorum memoria. Nisi enim id faceret, cur Plato Aegyptum peragravit, ut a sacerdotibus barbaris numeros et caelestia acciperet? Nam si propter voluptatem, quae est ista laus, quae possit e macello peti?

Share this model with your network to be smarter, faster, together!
Actionable Takeaways
  • Weave the Rule of Three into your communication. 

Practi ...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ita ne hoc quidem modo paria peccata sunt. Vitiosum est enim in dividendo partem in genere numerare. Laelius clamores sofòw ille so lebat Edere compellans gumias ex ordine nostros. Quid in isto egregio tuo officio et tanta fide-sic enim existimo-ad corpus refers? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. De illis, cum volemus. Praetereo multos, in bis doctum hominem et suavem, Hieronymum, quem iam cur Peripateticum appellem nescio. An potest cupiditas finiri? Collige omnia, quae soletis: Praesidium amicorum. Atqui eorum nihil est eius generis, ut sit in fine atque extrerno bonorum.

Nihil acciderat ei, quod nollet, nisi quod anulum, quo delectabatur, in mari abiecerat. Sed emolumenta communia esse dicuntur, recte autem facta et peccata non habentur communia. Sint ista Graecorum; O magnam vim ingenii causamque iustam, cur nova existeret disciplina! Perge porro. Cur igitur, inquam, res tam dissimiles eodem nomine appellas? Aut haec tibi, Torquate, sunt vituperanda aut patrocinium voluptatis repudiandum.

Itaque his sapiens semper vacabit. Qui enim existimabit posse se miserum esse beatus non erit. Sit hoc ultimum bonorum, quod nunc a me defenditur; Duarum enim vitarum nobis erunt instituta capienda. Ut enim consuetudo loquitur, id solum dicitur honestum, quod est populari fama gloriosum. Et quidem illud ipsum non nimium probo et tantum patior, philosophum loqui de cupiditatibus finiendis. Vestri haec verecundius, illi fortasse constantius. Non potes ergo ista tueri, Torquate, mihi crede, si te ipse et tuas cogitationes et studia perspexeris; Hoc etsi multimodis reprehendi potest, tamen accipio, quod dant. Esse enim quam vellet iniquus iustus poterat inpune.

Explore More
Rule of Three is featured in these playbooks:
Limitations

Overuse of any communication technique can become jarring, and the Rule of Three should simply be seen as one of the arrows in your toolkit. To that end, mixing your approach and changing the rhythm of your sentence structure is important. 

In addition to rhythm, sometimes using two examples or points can be useful to provide a binary or contrasting view rather than pointing to a pattern. 

In Practice

Martin Luther King Jr— I have a dream. 

The Rule of Three is a feature of many of King’s speeches. This site breaks down his most famous speech, and captures this key example: 

“When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Note that even the list of six items — black men and white men etc. — has been grouped in three groups of two, to maintain the rhythm of the Rule of Three. 

Build your latticework
This model will help you to:

d

Origins & Resources

Evidence of the Rule of Three can be traced back as far as Aristotle and biblical writing. Aristotle, inherently captured it in his Rules of Rhetoric, though it is unclear who formally named and identified the ‘rule’, thus we’ve left the model uncredited. 

My Notes

    Nothing here yet. Join ModelThinkers and login to be the first to comment.
Already a ModelThinkers member? Please log in here.

Oops, That’s Members’ Only!

Fortunately, it only costs US$5/month to Join ModelThinkers and access everything so that you can rapidly discover, learn, and apply the world’s most powerful ideas.

ModelThinkers membership at a glance:

Small mark
UNLOCK EVERYTHING
Access all mental models and premium content.
Small mark
BUILD YOUR LATTICEWORK
Save models to your personal list.
Small mark
QUICKLY MEMORISE MODELS
Use our Learn function to embed models to memory
Small mark
PERSONALISE MODELS
Add your own notes and reminders.
Small mark
BUILD YOUR ‘EXTERNAL BRAIN’
Discover a new idea? Capture it by adding a new model.
Small mark
JOIN THE MT COMMUNITY
Rate models, comment and access exclusive events.

“Yeah, we hate pop ups too. But we wanted to let you know that, with ModelThinkers, we’re making it easier for you to adapt, innovate and create value. We hope you’ll join us and the growing community of ModelThinkers today.”

Arun Pradhan & Shai Desai
CoFounders, ModelThinkers.

You Might Also Like:

- Actionable summaries of the world's most powerful ideas.