This triangle should in a perfect world, always be equilateral--all sides equal length and are angles equal degrees. However, one soon discovers that in neurotic or twisted relationships this triangle becomes scalene, where no angle or side is the same. These three commodities or needs are not mutually exclusive in the human psyche. There exists a constant tension and elasticity amongst these three poles. Furthermore, humans use any one quite conveniently as a substitute if anything is lacking in one of the other two categories.
Food becomes a tool to quell lust and to compensate for not receiving enough love. Lust becomes a substitute for the love which is perceived to be missing and food is used as a further substitute. And when the food supplied is meager (usually for economic reasons) and the sex or lust factor is concomitantly weak then that person focuses too much on love (maybe having too many love interests, or expending far too much effort on one significant relationship). These phenomenon are but one instance of the adaptation process at work. Note that here the compensation takes the form of a substitution, or a default choice, because the organism is unable to achieve enough satiation of or from the primary goal.
Consider for a moment how man sometimes imposes the natural adaptive outcome of the triad in the animal kingdom purely for his self interest. Capons are purposefully castrated male roosters and are usually served by Jewish families as the main course of the Friday evening dinner. A large capon weighs about as much as a small to medium turkey. Capons are castrated so as to, as much as possible, diminish the lust component of the creatures needs. This is done knowing full well that the organism will exclusively substitute food for the missing lust component. It's the easiest adaptive technique, likely, for most barnyard fowl, as indicated by the triangle above. Hence, the simple chicken will double in body mass. (footnote 1)
After years of these intertwined and confusing substitutions and compensations the therapist need not wonder how their patient became so twisted and neurotic. The above example is a simple one from the animal kingdom. Add dimensions of morality, evil, and other human constraints and twists, and one can quickly envision how convoluted it might become. The cure is easily effected by unraveling and unwinding the layers of self deception and substitution to which the patient has himself been a willing if not a zealous participant. Naturally, this happens automatically (because nature's systems all tend to move to a balance point) as soon as the subject looks squarely into the mirror with both, the sincere intention and the courage, to rid his or her life of this garbage. For this particular cure my favourite medicine is, "Winning Through Enlightenment" by Dr. Ron Smotherman.
Ponder the babe entering the world. It's knowledge of fact, as we know it, is zero. Sucking is instinctual. Its message is imprinted at the gene level of cellular communication and activity. If the organism is unable to or unwilling to suck in the nutriments that it so dearly needs, it quickly adapts its tactics and starts hollering, in the process sucking in the other two players in the triad to pay attention. Not a bad thing; but another example of how easily the organism, if forced to, will adopt anywhere from the simplest, to the most complex scheme, to fulfill its needs. Why are some babies given pacifiers?
That's right! It is simply ONE counter maneuver chosen by the parents to try to tip the odds in their favour, so that this unique baby/father/mother triad is in balance.
Lest you think there be only one triad, don't! When one considers an infinite number of problems, further confounded by individual perception and potential error in judgment, the possibilities quickly become countless. Just so, for the triad. Triads exist at all levels, in innumerable dimensions. The reasons are both too simple and grossly overlooked. Consider what hooks together more easily than four things (footnote 2), but which must be more than two things. The answer is easily: three things!
Isn't the Olympics based on the triad: higher, faster, stronger? And what of the pleasure triad: money, sex, and drugs. Convince me that it doesn't exist. And what about: talk, listen, learn--the triad for growth and expression.
Footnotes:
1
I would never, in a million years, be able to prove that this type of modification to nature greatly increases the risk of cancer to all who consume this type of food. Nonetheless, I know in my heart that it does.
2
Things can be ideas, forces , people, or whatever element one chooses to substitute here.
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