My husband and I have been spending a lot of time discussing the course material, and we've rented some documentaries via netflix related to the course topics. Last night we watched a documentary on fractals. It was a very brief introduction to the topic, and it made me want to take more advance math to deepen my understanding of them. They are beautiful examples of living systems.
I am curious how fractals relate to patterns of behavior? It seems to me to be stuck in a repeating self-similar pattern of a behavior would be a bad thing most often. In fact, it seems any repeating pattern of behavior would have negative connotations. Can someone give me an example of a positive repetitive pattern of behavior? I think only in a pattern that enables growth would positive outcomes be possible.
One of the topics discussed in the documentary was the occurrence of fractals in nature and art. Specifically, they highlighted the Japanese artist Hokusai. You are likely familiar with his famous painting of a giant wave and Mt. Fuji.
They identified the repeating curls of the wave within waves as a fractal. I also see the beginnings of a spiral. Spirals are fascinating patterns found throughout art, mythology, and nature. Much like fractals, they can be reduced to a mathematical formula (for more information on the math behind spirals, read about the golden ratio and the Fibonacci spiral).
One of the things I again find fascinating about spirals is their ability to grow. Like a forever ascending staircase reaching for the heavens, they wrap around themselves for eternity, growing always.
Spirals are enchanting. They capture your gaze, and enable amazing structural feats. Look to nature for examples.
The fern for instance-- I find the fern one of the most fascinating organisms on earth not only because of it's complicated life cycle, but also because it's design is so multi-dimensionally mathematical. It's a fractal, it's a branching tree, and it's a spiral at the fiddlehead phase.
And let us not forget DNA, the building block of life...The world's most important spiral.
Perhaps it is the importance of spirals in our life that has led to our fascination with them throughout time. Spirals are hugely symbolic and often revered to hold magical powers. Humans have included spirals in art since the earliest paintings.
I think that spirals have served as a representation of the universe as a whole, and therefore as systems thinking. Perhaps this is why spirals appear so powerful--to capture the essence of the shape of the universe in a pattern, a symbol.
Moving spirals have a meditative power, that I have often used to help calm my mind. Follow this link for an example-->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMtj_-3BOc&feature=related
How could spirals be incorporated into organizations?
Example of a positive repetitive pattern of behavior? How about heart beat? Is that positive enough? ;-)
ReplyDeleteSome of the patterns you have identified in your post repeat at different scales so they are never exactly the same, and the overall effect is much creativity.