Themeiology

‘Themeiology’ is a new term conceptualised by its author in 2022. The word is therefore not yet part of any known dictionary.

It has to do with the precepts around which any particular life-theme can be regulated, controlled, augmented and manipulated in order to deliver desirable outcomes for the practicing individual.

The term borrows a parallel essence from the similar sounding word ‘theology’ in that it centres on belief and conviction; the only difference being the distinct omission of religiously derived iconography. It is not, however, necessarily incompatible with forms of religious doctrine.

For instance, life itself could be considered a ‘themeiology’, around which a plethora of ideas as to best practice are in circulation. The same could be said of countless 'areas of life' such as exercise, mentality, work, relationships as well as human conditions like strength, weakness and resilience.

All aforementioned examples are in and of themselves individual themeiologies worthwhile exploring, for which a range of seemingly universal rules of cause and effect might be observed and recorded in order to aid individual growth.

In themiological terms, learning occurs primarily as a consequence of trial and error. The aims of application are always to maximise promising outcomes and minimise disadvantageous ones. Nonetheless, within themeiology, failure is seen as an important catalyst for growth, as are all traditionally pejorative human conditions such as fatigue, weakness and contradiction, to name but a few.

By diligently studying their own humanness, warts and all, the practitioner of themeiology is able to more profoundly comprehend—therefore rise above—their own shortcomings.

The diagrammatic representation of themeiology resembles an upside down equilateral triangle. A symbolic vertical line through its centre divides it into two equal right-angle triangles. The main triangle’s horizontal face is then removed, making it open sided. A round moving object is released at velocity into one side of the inner triangle. The object pings back and forth from left to right, as might the ball in an early arcade form of pong. Each oscillation of the ball experiences less travel than the one before until it eventually settles at the base of the triangle. The course of the ball symbolises the life cycle of themiological learning, resulting in paralysis through epiphany. This is the resting point at which accumulated learnings—the result of a pendulum like rebound between polar opposites—comes to an end.

This is said to be the moment in time where one has exhausted their understanding of a predetermined hypothesis, therefore the point at which one might extract their learnings only to re-inject them into the same procedure. In this way the process of themeiology iterates in perpetuity, each time under a more sophisticated set of precepts than any which had gone before.