Pieces of Eight
The exponential progression of Two is the delineator of Cyberspace. Because of this, we saw that cubic structures are a common feature in the Digital World. The Ancient Greeks saw Two as the generating power of Form and Number, as well as Harmony. The Octave Structure is produced by dividing and multiplying string length by 2. Two points make a Line, four points make a Square, eight points make a Cube; in this fashion, 23 becomes the Number (8) of 3-D Reality.
When we examine the "Real World" closely we see that it is permeated with Eightness. Many of these structures are Harmonic and are therefore Octave Scales of one kind or another. Of course, all vibratory forms reflect this internal structure, sound obviously, but also light and therefore color.
When we look at both the organic and inorganic worlds we see that all reactions and processes revolve around the presence or absence of Oxygen, Element #8! Even the Periodic Table is organized around Oxygen's perfect Atomic weight of 16. The dance of Hydrogen (1) and Oxygen (8) define the Inorganic World, with the addition of Carbon (6) and Nitrogen (7), they define the Organic World. The formation of oxides and hydrides, the processes of oxidation and reduction, the ph States of Acids and Bases, all revolve around octave states (plus or minus 7), in Lambda-like formations.
We have only recently discovered that the entire world of "Smell" is com-posed of octave sets of "smell" elements. There are pairs of large, self-simi-lar molecules, each of which forms a "Lambda" of octaves; of the acidic and alcoholic esters of that group of smells.
Within the genetic structure of all living things, the DNA "ladder" has eight rungs for every 3600 rotation. Finally, you can't help but notice that the symbol for infinity is just a lazy eight, and that leminscate figures in general precisely describe the bi-polar orbit of strange attractors in all their varied forms.
