Big Eights!
The Big Eights. When "Big Eights" is used as a greeting, what does it mean? What does Big Eights itself mean? There are eighty eight keys on a piano, a well known fact. This, in itself, creates meaning for the Big Eights. Big Eights becomes a symbol of musical harmony. Those eighty eight keys of a piano are able to create beautiful music and inspire peace within individuals. That peace is capable of transcending the boundaries of the inner soul when more than one individual is affected by it. It becomes harmony among individuals, harmony of life. Big Eights, however, is more than just musical harmony; it is expressed everywhere you look. It is harmony in nature, from the smallest particles to the largest organisms. Harmony across the globe. Harmony of the planets and their movement within our solar system. Harmony of our solar system around the core of our galaxy. Harmony of galaxies bound by the cosmic forces we have yet to understand. The harmony is never-ending; infinite.
The plot thickens...
Turn those eights on their side: The mobius strip - Infinity. The universe is infinite. There is a never-ending, harmonious cycle of events occurring at this very moment all around you. To better understand this cycle, one can look to the Law of Conservation of Matter/Energy which states: Matter/Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only be converted from one form to another. This means there is a finite amount of matter/energy in our universe which is infinately changing. The constant conversions of matter/energy add stability to life.
Turn the page...
Stability is important in life. Without stability, plants and animals would die off completely. Life would not have the means to sustain itself. Chaos would ensue in the cosmic sense. Big Eights symbolizes this stability. It is stability in the environment which allows organisms to nurture themselves, grow, reproduce, die, and feed other organisms. Stability in the environment is conducive to stability of the mind and spirit. Stability of the body, mind, and spirit brings us back to harmony. It is an infinite process using a finite amount of matter/energy.
It's so simple...
The mobius strip visible in the Big Eights represents an infinite process. The path of the mobius strip can be traced forever into eternity, yet there exists only a finite amount of material to be traced on that path. It is an infinite object existing in a finite amount of space. Following the infinite path itself down whatever road you choose, be it the conservation of matter/energy, or the infinite cycle of life and the universe, will take you through complex and incomprehensible thought patterns. It will bring forth unanswerable questions, unexplainable events and consequences, and will bring you face to face with the infinitely complicated nature of the universe. And yet it is one of the simplest things that can possibly exist. It is the Big Eights.
Too few people in There have insight into the philosophical implications of Big Eights. To some, like icedoll, it is just a shirt they should have bought when they had the chance. Others don't even know of the shirt, never mind the meaning behind it. In my search for better understanding of Big Eights, I found two people in particular who were the most helpful.
The first was Mackie. She told me that she has heard the phrase "Big Eights" used by truckers, perhaps to imply "safe travels". Wow, I thought. That adds a whole new perspective to Big Eights as a greeting! Not only can it relate to the harmony of the Eights (eighty-eight keys on a piano), suggesting harmony on the road and thus "safe travels", but it also relates back to the mobius strip as a way to say "see you next time."
The second person who offered me perspectives on Big Eights was sunny1. She suggested that Big Eights can be related to numerology: the four directions and the four elements of the world add up to eight. She also noted that if you untwist an eight you get a circle, which many cultures use in building practices. Native Americans used the circle to design their tee pees, Eskimos use it to defy the wind and hold in heat, and dome homes are based on the circle due to its inherent strength. The circle also is representative of wholeness or completion.
Although I was able to gain a great deal of insight into Big Eights from Mackie and sunny1, it is clear to me that even the simple recognition of the phrase "Big Eights" as you pass a there_test avie wearing the shirt, for example, is limited to a very small percentage of Therians. To most, it is absolutely meaningless. Time for a Big Eights revival across Theria?
The plot thickens...
Turn those eights on their side: The mobius strip - Infinity. The universe is infinite. There is a never-ending, harmonious cycle of events occurring at this very moment all around you. To better understand this cycle, one can look to the Law of Conservation of Matter/Energy which states: Matter/Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only be converted from one form to another. This means there is a finite amount of matter/energy in our universe which is infinately changing. The constant conversions of matter/energy add stability to life.
Turn the page...
Stability is important in life. Without stability, plants and animals would die off completely. Life would not have the means to sustain itself. Chaos would ensue in the cosmic sense. Big Eights symbolizes this stability. It is stability in the environment which allows organisms to nurture themselves, grow, reproduce, die, and feed other organisms. Stability in the environment is conducive to stability of the mind and spirit. Stability of the body, mind, and spirit brings us back to harmony. It is an infinite process using a finite amount of matter/energy.
It's so simple...
The mobius strip visible in the Big Eights represents an infinite process. The path of the mobius strip can be traced forever into eternity, yet there exists only a finite amount of material to be traced on that path. It is an infinite object existing in a finite amount of space. Following the infinite path itself down whatever road you choose, be it the conservation of matter/energy, or the infinite cycle of life and the universe, will take you through complex and incomprehensible thought patterns. It will bring forth unanswerable questions, unexplainable events and consequences, and will bring you face to face with the infinitely complicated nature of the universe. And yet it is one of the simplest things that can possibly exist. It is the Big Eights.
Too few people in There have insight into the philosophical implications of Big Eights. To some, like icedoll, it is just a shirt they should have bought when they had the chance. Others don't even know of the shirt, never mind the meaning behind it. In my search for better understanding of Big Eights, I found two people in particular who were the most helpful.
The first was Mackie. She told me that she has heard the phrase "Big Eights" used by truckers, perhaps to imply "safe travels". Wow, I thought. That adds a whole new perspective to Big Eights as a greeting! Not only can it relate to the harmony of the Eights (eighty-eight keys on a piano), suggesting harmony on the road and thus "safe travels", but it also relates back to the mobius strip as a way to say "see you next time."
The second person who offered me perspectives on Big Eights was sunny1. She suggested that Big Eights can be related to numerology: the four directions and the four elements of the world add up to eight. She also noted that if you untwist an eight you get a circle, which many cultures use in building practices. Native Americans used the circle to design their tee pees, Eskimos use it to defy the wind and hold in heat, and dome homes are based on the circle due to its inherent strength. The circle also is representative of wholeness or completion.
Although I was able to gain a great deal of insight into Big Eights from Mackie and sunny1, it is clear to me that even the simple recognition of the phrase "Big Eights" as you pass a there_test avie wearing the shirt, for example, is limited to a very small percentage of Therians. To most, it is absolutely meaningless. Time for a Big Eights revival across Theria?
Jon Quixote was There.
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