“Three points” is one of the most familiar phrases to the collegiate ear. Three points for a field goal in football. Three points for shooting behind the line in basketball. However, the phrase is most commonly heard, not in sports, but in English. Beginning in English Composition I, “three points” is the mantra chanted by nearly every teacher the student encounters. Never two points, nor four, because for some reason ideas can only be expressed in three points.
The same applies in speech. Every speech teacher or judge thinks that thoughts and concepts can only come in groups of threes. Woe to any student who crosses this dictum. If an essay or speech is composed consisting of two or five points, the teacher balances this by removing points from the student’s grade-not in threes, but in 10s and 20s.
Fortunately, people in the real world have risked the wrath of the literary and linguistic communities by expressing ideas in numbers other than three. After World War I, President Woodrow Wilson felt that world peace could not be met with only three points, so he used 14. Rumor has it that his composition teacher later publicly burned all of Wilson’s papers after marking them with big red Fs.
The three-points rule is not limited to English teachers. Martin Luther was declared a heretic after posting not three but 95 points on his church’s door. His Latin teacher then turned him in to the church authorities and the zeal for three points led to the little known Essay Inquisition. Luther’s followers eventually had to break away from the Catholic Church for their non-conformity.
Buddha, another great religious leader, risked the wrath of the dominant three points crowd by creating his Eightfold Path. He ended up founding an entire new religion. Some say he was able to do that because the Sanskrit scholars of the day hated any idea not given in three points.
While some English (and other language) teachers may give the three-points rule nearly god-like status, God often breaks the rule himself. Admittedly, both the Christian and Hindu religions have trinities at the core of their beliefs, but both argue that the three are actually one in the same.
Imagine if God gave the Three Commandments. Sure, no idol worship, and only one God, but people would be murdering, stealing and committing adultery without the slightest bit of guilt. Parents would get no respect whatsoever.
Jesus, too, risked wrath of Hebrew professors and Pharisees alike by breaking the three points rule in the worst possible way. He gave less than three points. Love thy God and love thy neighbor are only two points. Maybe failing Hebrew because of this linguistic travesty explains why He became a carpenter.
From day one in college, students are browbeaten with the three-points rule for writing essays and speeches. The students’ minds become molded to write and speak (and maybe do other things) in threes. For exhibit A, look at this very article. We can’t help ourselves. Once outside the gates of their school, however, graduates will find that ideas in the real world don’t necessarily come in threes.
Fortunately, great men, women and even God have been breaking the rule unabashedly for years. In the real world, it’s often best to have more or less than those three magic points.
Nathan Alday is a junior aerospace engineering major.