Even determining the position of a single still point in space requires three numbers.

Torahiko Terada

 

 

People like comparison and let people compete for superiority or inferiority, but it can be determined only by one linear scale. The physicist says that since the three axes are required even in determining a spatial position, the number of comparison axes cannot be narrowed down to as few as three when it comes to human ability and freedom. It goes without saying that people live more comfortably, focusing on the differences and contrast than forcibly assigning a common axis to people. From an essay “Recording Rush.”

 

"November 4  2019

from “Oriori no Kotoba” by Kiyokazu Washida, The Asahi Shimbun"