The "Theory of Circles"

This is something I've been meaning to blog for a while now. My "Theory of Circles" originated during my last year in college while I was taking philosophy classes. Those started as just a way to fill a breadth requirement but I got into it so I took a couple. I love abstract thought...but mostly if there's a trail of thought leading to it. I think if you're going to "think outside the box" you should leave a Hansel & Gretel type trail of crumbs back to "the box" so people can understand where you are and follow along. But thats neither here nor there.

As most of my good friends will tell you, if I've made up my mind on a certain issue, you need a FANTASTIC argument to get me to change it. This made philosophy entertaining at times b/c I didnt always agree with the professor but that was only b/c he/she was wrong at the time. ;-p I actually wrote up an argument on my final exam that I knew was the exact opposite of what the professor wanted us to write b/c I didnt agree with his take. Let me tell you, I wrote up an argument that was so crisp and irrefutable, that I was SURE he'd HAVE to recognize that I was either right or definitely not wrong. He gave me a B. I can live with sacrificing that A.

Anyway, enough background. When I first developed my theory of circles, it was simply due to the cyclical nature of life. As simple as each day, expanding out to each year's seasons, and so on. The fact that fads and trends seem to recycle and come back into style in some random timeframe. You can expand it to people and events. The evolution of civil rights struggle with having black leaders step up to now having a black President has happened in a cyclical fashion. Industrial/technological booms and recession/depressions. I believe the very histories of this country and this world are wrought with cycles. Why do you think your parents are so often right? They've seen it before...life hasnt changed really. Just remixed. Think about it.

So I expand somewhat and go out of the realm of the annals of time and our history and start to think more universal. Every planet in our solar system is a sphere and a few have rings. They follow in a mostly circular orbit around a bigger sphere. Maybe thats all meaningless. But maybe its not.

We celebrate occasions with rings. We commit to each other with rings as the symbol. Our Olympic games have a symbol of interconnected rings to reflect an image of unity and sportsmanship. A circle is the hardest shape to draw. I could go on & on but my point is that there may not be anything that pervades society, at any point in history, as thoroughly, as meaningfully, as a simple circle.

I use this theory as a foundation for a lot of things. Personally, I believe that there is circular relationship between simple and difficult. Why else do some of the most complex answers have the simplest solutions and vice versa? I mention the cycles of history and I wonder, cant we predict the future reasonably well? "You cant know where you're going unless you know where you came from" so why wouldnt researching the past give you a pretty accurate idea of the future? "Same song, just remixed. Different arrangement." ("Thieves in the Night" -- Shoutout to the Mighty Mos Def)

Anyway, thus is my theory of circles presented for your viewing pleasure. Thoughts?