Triangle

Systems in Triangulation

The triangulation (I → Model → Object) is the minimum geometry to embody paradox productively. The three points create a dynamic instability that prevents collapse into either pure unity (no knowledge possible) or pure separation (no connection possible).

Peter Senge maps "reinforcing, balancing, and delay"—the three fundamental feedback patterns that generate all system behavior. Every complex system reduces to triangulated dynamics.

Donella Meadows identified "the triangle of paradigm, structure, and behavior"—transformation must address all three vertices or the system reasserts its pattern.

Ken Wilber gives us "I, We, It"—the irreducible perspectives of first-person, second-person, and third-person that constitute the "Big Three" of human experience.

Carol Sanford teaches "the three lines of work"—develop persons, evolve processes, regenerate fields. Each requires the others for genuine transformation.

The Violence of Triangulation

The common conceptual framework underlying Domination includes:

1. The Division of Legitimacy: Determining when generation is permitted (within marriage/through authorized extraction) and when it must be prevented (outside marriage/in protected areas)
2. The Appropriation of Productivity: Claiming the fruits of generative processes (children/natural resources) while absolving responsibility for their wellbeing
3. The Reduction to Resource: Transforming living systems (women's bodies/ecosystems) into inputs for economic or social production
4. The Disguise of Domination: Concealing control behind language of care, stewardship, or protection

René Girard exposed the "mimetic triangle"—subject, model, and object of desire creating inevitable rivalry. The triangle as the geometry of conflict, where two always unite against one.

Karpman mapped the "Drama Triangle"—Victim, Persecutor, Rescuer locked in endless rotation, each role requiring the others, suffering maintaining itself through triangular stability.

Foucault revealed "triangulated surveillance"—how power operates through the guard tower, the prisoner, and the possibility of observation, creating docility through geometric arrangement.

The Master's House: Triangle as Trap

Predatory systems exploit triangular dynamics through:

• Divide and conquer: Creating triangulated conflicts where two unite against one
• The pyramid scheme: Hierarchical triangles extracting value upward
• Triangulated debt: Creditor, debtor, and enforcer creating inescapable obligations
• Love triangles: Commodifying relationship into competitive geometry
• The tribunal: Three judges creating unappealable authority
• Triangulated communication: Never allowing direct connection, maintaining control through mediation
• The triple bind: Creating situations where all three options lead to capture

Marx revealed the "triangle of capital, labor, and commodity"—each point requiring the others, creating the circulation that reproduces exploitation.

Silvia Federici exposes the "triangle of production, reproduction, and accumulation"—how unwaged work subsidizes capital through triangulated extraction.

The Bermuda Triangle serves as metaphor—zones where things disappear, where navigation fails, where the normal rules cease to function.

3D Architecture of the Master's House

Behind the 2D facade lie three-dimensional (3D) structures: the hierarchical networks, incentive systems, and institutional arrangements that truly govern outcomes. These structures include corporate hierarchies, elite networks, ownership patterns, and legal frameworks that concentrate power. They are three-dimensional in that they involve relationships and hierarchies (who is connected to whom, who reports to whom – essentially the architecture of power). These structures are less publicly visible; one must look beyond the glossy reports to see, for example, that a handful of investment funds and executives hold decisive influence over an industry, or that political lobbying networks connect ostensibly separate institutions into one power bloc. Regulatory capture is one way these structures perpetuate control: regulatory agencies, legislators, and industry leaders form a tight web (3D structure) wherein each understands the other's interests. Decisions get made within this insular network, keeping out disruptive alternatives. From the outside, one sees only the 2D pattern of “consensus” regulations; from within, the 3D reality is that the same elite circle authored the rules. By containing decision-making to safe, predetermined channels, powerful actors ensure that even reforms or innovations ultimately route through their structure. It's akin to a fixed architecture where surface changes can occur (new paint, a cosmetic retrofit) but the foundational blueprint remains the same.