The Cycle Of Repetition

Has there ever been a story that you have truly never read?

If you have read any story, the writer of that story had previously read stories that you have never read, and the writers of those stories had read other stories that you have never read, and so on. The concepts and patterns of those stories found their way into the stories that you did read.

There are a limited number of patterns, concepts and, details that can go in stories. This means that there are only a finite number of possible stories, and so after reading a certain number of stories you can say with at least some truth that you have read all possible stories.

In fact, all designs from buildings to houses to cars are affected, to some degree, by the stories that the designer has read. This includes television, the themes of Shakespeare are to be found all over modern television. It is true that there are a vast number of stories, but also true that there is a vast amount of similarity between the stories.

There is practically nothing that is completely unfamiliar, just rearrangements of all possible themes, settings, concepts and, details. Every time you read an article, get to know someone, are taught by someone, or look at a product that was designed by someone, you are in some way affected by the stories which that person has read or the movies that they have seen.

For example, in every corner of western society you can see the patterns found in the Bible. So many scenes in stories resemble scenes in the Bible. Have you ever noticed the resemblance between a psalm in the Bible and a modern song, except that the psalms are about God and the songs are usually about romance?

Western legal systems and constitutions resemble the detailed lists of commands and procedures in the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. The legal descriptions of properties, for mortgage and tax purposes, closely resembles the parceling out of well-defined territories after the Israelites had settled their promised land.

The sites of modern capital cities of settled lands, such as Washington, Ottawa and, Canberra, were selected due to their central locations between colonies or settlements in the same way as the Israelites chose Jerusalem as a central capital. Notice how the U.S. Civil War resembles the split into the rival kingdoms of Judah and Israel after the death of King Solomon.

The journeys of explorers from Europe to all parts of the world very much resemble St. Paul's three missionary voyages in the New Testament. The taming of the U.S. and Canadian west, and the parceling into states and provinces, seems like something right out of the Book of Joshua. Even the lengthy lists of screen credits at the end of movies is very much like Paul's list of credits at the end of the Book of Romans.

Many western historical events look very much like scenes out of the Bible. When power was being sorted out in 1930s Germany, the Nazis invited the leaders of the Brownshirts (Storm Troopers) to a meeting and then slaughtered them exactly like Jehu did with the prophets of Baal.

The unfortunate glamorization of violence on modern television also has some roots in the Bible, with the recounting of the exploits of the mightiest of King David's warriors in the Second Book of Samuel.

Both sides of the economic spectrum today can be seen in the Bible. The adoration of wealth in the glories of King Solomon's Temple, in the First Book of the Kings, as well as capitalism in the harsh parable of the talents (or pounds) used by Jesus. The support of workers and opposition to exploitation by the wealthy in the Book of James, the parable of the rich young man in the Gospels and Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers in the Temple.

Repetition of patterns can be seen in a nation's history. The 2013 removal of Egyptian president Morsi, after the 2011 overthrow of long-time leader Mubarak, is actually a throwback to ancient times.

In ancient times, the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt, when the pyramids and Sphinx were constructed, deteriorated and lost control until order was restored by force. This brought in the Middle Kingdom. The country was eventually ruled by Semitic foreigners, known as the Hyksos, until their expulsion brought in the New Kingdom.

In modern times, the army restoring order by force, after both the Mubarak and Morsi overthrows, reflects back to order being restored after the end of the Old Kingdom. The bringing in of the elected Morsi government, after the overthrow of Mubarak, but then it's removal in a coup by the military, represents the rebellion that removed the Hyksos.

The same pattern can be seen in Iran. I have always thought that the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, to form an Islamic republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini, is a throwback to the country's original conquest after the advent of Islam. The shah represented pre-Islamic Persia, in fact he held a lavish 1971 anniversary celebration of it in the ruins of Persepolis. The 1979 revolution was reenacting the coming of Islam to the country.

This concept is similar to what we saw in "The Cardinal Rule Of Military Strategy", on the world and economics blog www.markmeekeconomics.blogspot.com . Always expect the enemy to do whatever he has done before.

The cycle of patterns keeps going around and around.