Dark triads and toxic triangles

Abstract

You don’t have to be a numerologist to know of the power of three. All great orators know of the rhythm and the effect of the triple. We rejoice in 3D images, but struggle to be co-operatively coordinated in three-legged races. Politicians respond to the three-line whip. Most national flags seem to have three colours. Bureaucrats want everything in triplicate. Triplanes give extra maneuverability and tripods extra stability. Mysteries come in threes, such as the Holy Trinity. Psychoanalysts have noticed that sexual reproductive organs come in threes. Pornography often portrays wicked threesomes.