Infinite Limits

Exact Design

          Looking closer into the principles of Macnab, the number eight seems helpful when contrasting it with the quality of work I chose. Dolly City continually touches upon the idea of the mental and how it gives way to harming others physically. The thought processes that Dolly goes through are what make the novel so intriguing as well as disturbing. She constantly is detaching herself from reality in order to perform the crazy surgeries on her son, believing that she is actually helping rather than hurting him. This ties together the principle that Macnab calls the eight stages of thought-altering discipline, which are used to shift reality perception, and in so doing alter it in fact. Macnab compares these thought processes to sports, but particularly martial arts, where physical ability is related to mental acuity and willingness to take personal risk.  The disciplinary training of martial arts involves eight stages of mental conditioning that lead to abandoning both hope and fear, the final stage of spiritual bravery.

          Incorporating the principles of eight into visual communication is a powerful but calming element and best associated with high intention and integrity.  The processes involved in mediation, therapy or physical discipline are much like that of creating inspired, integrated design. Therefore, Macnab uses the power of the number eight for spiritual reasons to calm the mind. These stages would be helpful for a character like Dolly, but also allows the reader to notice the different moods Dolly goes through.