Epicureanism is supposed to be a rational belief that disposes with the old wives tales and superstitions of the ages. But habit dies hard, and I have to tell you that this Epicurean still believes that problems come in threes, just as grandmother said they would.
Today, snow is on the ground where I live, and the temperature is so low that I can’t convert it to centigrade. Fate chose this inauspicious moment to ensure that 1.the washing machine and drier packed up, and have had to be replaced. 2. The TV has stopped working, and neither of us can understand a word of the various manuals. And 3. the dishwasher has gone on strike in sympathy with the other machinery. Since it is nearly as old as me, seems that will have to be replaced, too. So far, the car and the heating still work, but the superstitious in me warns about making this public lest they join the strike, too.
I mention this, not for sympathy, but to point out in a jolly, positive way that for every three domestic snafoos there will always be three corresponding bits of great news ….sometime. Who knows when? Keep your fingers crossed etc. Thank you for indulging my reprehensibly atavistic tendencies. So, back to Epicurus….
How about this more moderately Epicurean approach to your grandmother’s “in three’s” admonition? instead of using base three numerical system, use base-ten. Or, better yet, the Mesopotamian sexagesimal, base sixty.
It’s highly unlikely that you’ll have ten hits from fate within a normal time-frame. I’m strongly opposed to mystical numbers powers and I think Epicurus would have my back on that point. I can’t imagine him endorsing magic numbers.