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Reasons for Selecting the Cube as the Symbol of NEM.
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It is not difficult to see that the cube logo also looks like a network graph.
The cube symbolizes the decentralized network of the NEM cloud, the 8 corners representing the nodes and the 12 edges representing the links.
The cube is a perfect symbol for NEM. All six attributes of NEM the devs wish to incorporate can be done using the cube.
The 6 faces of the cube represents the 3 exoteric ideals and the 3 esoteric ideas of NEM.
The 3 key ideals are financial freedom, decentralization, and equality of opportunity. Plus the 3 secret components in the PoI algorithm.
The cube represents the decentralized and distributed characteristics of a mesh network (peer-to-peer).
All 3 letters of NEM are incorporated into the symbol and are easily identified.
Bitcoin's blockchain has a 2-dimensional quality and can be visualized a sequence of squares. NEM's blockchain, because of it's advanced features
(asset exchange, messaging, games, apps built upon the blockchain, etc) has a 3-dimensional quality can be visualized a sequence of actual blocks.
When we harvest with the client we are processing blocks (cubes).
The cube also has more marketing possibilities than a two-dimensional circle. It has additional surfaces for text and graphics. A hanging mobile can
be constructed for kinetic art advertising. A model can be produced from a 3d printer. The cube is relatively free of the historical and religious
references that plague the tomoe.
Through the centuries, our economy has gone through different phases. We have shifted from an agricultural economy to an industrial one and now
to an information economy. NEM will be part of this economic evolution and if we view NEM as the successor to Bitcoin, our logo should also reflect
this shift away from the industrialized banking system and away from the circular form of world coinage.
These paradigm shifts can be represented as dimensions in space. A point extended becomes a line, the line extended becomes a plane and the
plane extended becomes a solid. Each shift is followed by exponential growth.
0-dimensional, 2^0=1 vertices= point, agrarian, trade based economy
1-dimensional, 2^1=2 vertices= line, banking, fiat based economy
2-dimensional, 2^2=4 vertices= square, digital currency-inefficient PoW, Bitcoin 1.0, logo is a flat circle
3-dimensional, 2^3=8 vertices= cube, digital currency-efficient PoI, NEM 2.0, logo is a solid 3d cube
4-dimensional, 2^4=16 vertices= tesseract, digital currency-a future 3.0 crypto
We should not use the circle just because it has universally been the ideal shape. It all depends on the application.
As an example, even though the circle is the most efficient shape for a room (it encloses the maximum possible area for a given perimeter of wall) it
is not a good choice for the shape of rooms within a house. Wasted gaps of space would be left between the circular rooms.
Another example can be found in nature, the circle would not be the best shape for a bee cell. Space between the circles would be wasted, whereas
the hexagonal structure of a honeycomb shares all its adjacent sides without any gaps. Bees use hexagonal honeycombs for storage because
hexagons more efficient to construct, the structure ensures that bees fill the volume efficiently yet limit the total wall area of the cells. A given
hexagon has the most area inside for the length of its sides.
Hexagons are the most efficient way to divide up a flat plane. The curve of a geodesic dome structure is easier to produce from hexagons. Solar
panel arrays benefit from the area-to-perimeter ratio of a hexagon. The antenna tower sites for cellular phones are also configured in a hexagonal
grid.
The geometric efficiency of the honeycomb makes optimal use of space, similarly, NEM's PoI is more efficient than Bitcoin's PoW.
The cube (hexahedron) is related to the hexagon. NEM's cube logo is actually an orthographic projection of a cube. When rendered in two
dimensions it is a flat hexagon.
The cube is one of the 5 platonic solids. All five platonic solids have either three-sided faces or three-way vertices.
tetrahedron,4,6,4 (vertices,edges,faces)
octahedron,6,12,8
cube,8,12,6
icosahedron,12,30,20
dodecahedron,20,30,12
When orthographically projected, only the hexagon conforms to the symmetries of all five platonic solids.
A hexagon has 6 edges, relating to the 3 key ideals and the 3 secret components in the PoI algorithm.
A hexagon has 6 vertices, again relating to the 3 key ideals and the 3 secret components in the PoI algorithm.
A hexagon can also be created from two equilateral triangles, one triangle representing NEM's 3 key ideals and the other the 3 components of PoI.
Also one triangle could represent the NEM cloud and the other the physical hardware of the network.
The number six also ties in with the idea of six degrees of separation or the small world theory, that there is no more than six degrees of separation
between any two people in the world. Several studies using internet messages have found that the average network path length was 6. If it is not a
security risk, displaying the average network path length would be a interesting feature. It would be a status of the inner workings of PoI. Over time
we could see if NEM's x degrees of separation agrees with the small world theory.
All life on earth is carbon based. The carbon atom has 6 protons in its nucleus and forms hexagonal molecules. The 3-dimensional hexagonal
structure is the reason that diamond is so strong. Graphene and carbon nanotubes are two of the new super materials. In the future these carbon
molecules may replace silicon based semiconductors. Graphene is one of the strongest and thinnest materials, it is a single layer of carbon atoms
arranged in a hexagonal lattice. The line segments in a hexagonal lattice converge at 120 degree angles, this distributes the load evenly and
prevents shearing. Carbon nanotubes are the strongest and stiffest materials yet discovered, it is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a
cylindrical form.
Graphene is strong and secure just like the strengh of NEM's community and NEM's algorithm.
The water molecules in an ice crystal form a hexagonal lattice, this is what gives the six-fold symmetry to a snow crystals.
Snowflakes are unique, just like NEM.
One of the unsolved problems in number theory is that it is not known whether an infinitely many perfect numbers exist.
6 is the first perfect number. The sum of it's proper divisors 1+2+3 equals 6 and half the sum of all its divisors (1+2+3+6)/2 equals 6.
3 factorial is 6. (3!= 1*2*3 = 6).
Six is the only number that is both the sum and the product of three consecutive positive numbers.
A few religious and superstitious viewpoints. Please ignore.
In Buddhism the Wheel of Life, the Samsara has 6 planes of existence, also there are the six Perfections. Confucianism has 6 canons of ethical
teachings. In Islam there are 6 articles of belief. In Judaism there 6 points on a Star of David, also the diagram of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life is
hexagonal. According to creation story of Judaism and Christianity, the world was created in 6 days. The Christian scholar Augustine of Hippo
suggested that God could have created the world in an instant but chose to to do it in six days because 6 is a perfect number. There are 6 cardinal
directions: north, south, east, west, up and down. The shell of turtles are hexagonal and in traditional Japanese beliefs, the turtle symbolizes good
luck. In Chinese culture the number 6 represents wealth and is considered good for business. The number 8 (a cube has 8 corners) is also an
auspicious number and is considered very lucky.
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Reasons for Rejecting the Tomoe Symbol.
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From reading the posts, the tomoe is very polarizing, people either love it or hate it. For this reason alone, using it as our brand should be
thoroughly questioned and not be taken lightly.
It is apparent the devs like the tomoe. I highly respect the work of all of our developers (the NEM Community Client looks great!) and appreciate their
efforts at wanting to design a bold and meaningful symbol for NEM. This is only my opinion, 100% logo and nothing personal.
The NEMlogo_v7_explanation.pdf seemed contrived.
Displaying the two other logos with arrows pointing to the official logo looked like a weak attempt at demonstrating the logo progression. Those
were two different logos, it did not make sense.
I did not like some sentences in the logo explanation, the "Man, Earth and Sky" and the "Feng Shui" parts just sounded too new age and hippy-
dippy. NEM will be taken more seriously if the explanation is professional and uses modern technical terms, not some nebulous concepts from
Eastern or Western thought.
The text "Inner ring is split into three parts, representing an E; sides represent the N in NEM." and "Tomoe, with three parts suggesting an M": it is a
real stretch to attribute these elements to the N,E,M characters. It was too abstract, just as one can suggest any three elements of any trinity can
represent any three characters.
The "Base unit of measurement" text and the overlay of radial lines gives the impression that it was designed with exact angles and ratios. The
radial lines unintentionally demonstrate the centralized nature of the circle also the white space in the tomoe forms the three spokes of a triskelion.
The tomoe represents the centralized characteristics of a ring or star network (hub-and-spoke).
When I see the tomoe, the first words that enters my mind is ancient and religious. I think many others will have the same first impression. We need
a symbol that is attractive, modern and technical.
In most cultures, the circle has been a symbol of harmony and unity. It is especially significant In the Eastern cultures, but let's not get too attached
on using it. The majority of cryptos use a circle as their coin and only a very small fraction use the triangle, square or hexagon. NEM is more than
just a coin, we should break from tradition and go with something non-circular.
Another minor reason for not using the tomoe is that some conservative Christians are suspicious of any associations with Eastern symbols or the
number 666.
"Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666." -Revelation
13:18 (NKJV)
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia is the irrational fear of the number 666.
US highway 666 was renumbered because the number 666 carries the stigma of being the mark of the devil.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us666.cfm"When President Reagan left office, he and Nancy took up residence at 666 St. Cloud Road in Bel-Air but had the address changed to 668 to avoid
the number of the beast." -Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2011
The Japanese mitsudomoe, Pax Cultura banner, Tibetan gankyil, Korean sam-taegeuk, Chinese taijitu and even the volleyball are symbols we should
avoid. The mitsudomoe was used by the Ryukyu Kingdom in Japan, it also looks like 3 spermatozoa or 3 tadpoles or 666.
