An unraveled rope

Good choice of a pattern, as it's so weirdly ubiquitous in nature, appearing in such disparate and seemingly unrelated instances ... from biological circulatory and/or neurological systems, to lightning and to river-flows, etc.

First thing I thought of was roots of a tree, but it really is fascinating to think about all the places this pattern appears.

Yes ... and the roots below are also the almost mirror image of the branches above.

It’s a fractal pattern. You see this type of thing in rivers, trees and most places in nature.

That was some quality condescension. Thanks for the link.

It just got more condescending as I kept reading...damn impressive.

I like how the author made me feel stupid for reading the answer to a question I didn’t ask.

Niel Degrasse Tyson's Punch Out

just woke up and completely miss typed that

r/damnthatsinteresting

With that said, in order to answer the question, Dr. Baird and his wives are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I don’t get this comment. What do these things have to do with fractals/condescension?

I think they try to imply "homeschoolers" and "religious fanatic" tend to be more condescending than others. I could be wrong and would like to propose funding to study the subject.

I don't get why your getting downvoted because I too don't understand what the quote means to this.

It’s from the website

Not everything from that website is relevant, they're asking how it's relevant.

Categories
Biology
Chemistry
Earth Science
Health
Physics
Society
Space

That, for example, has no relevance to the topic.

Holy crap you weren't kidding. It's that supposed to read that way, like as a joke? Because it's gotta be a joke?

I thought it was a fairly informative, straightforward essay explaining why fractals don't really explain much, even though they might seem significant.

From a pulling this out of my ass perspective, wouldn't fractals just be the best way to cover the largest surface area while providing the most efficient route to a single convergence point? Rivers and tributaries do this naturally through the flow of water and erosion, plants do this with leaves to maximize sunlight collection, roots for nutrient and water collection, Alveoli in your lungs to maximize oxygen exchange in your body.

wouldn't fractals just be the best way to cover the largest surface area while providing the most efficient route to a single convergence point?

Similarly talking out of my ass: I guess that might be true, but large surface areas and converging resources does not help to explain most physical phenomena. In fact, those things both seem like they work against entropy. So that might be a theory of why we find fractals in living things like trees and lungs. But like the article says, it's still not predictive. And it doesn't even describe the 99.9999999999999999999999999...% of the universe that is not alive.

That was a great article, thank you! I didn't find it condescending at all.

You know through all the condescension, I don't see his point. His reasoning for not talking about it is that scientists don't care, which is a pretty dumb generalization.

Here's a paper on fractals by a Ph. D.

Seems correct and significant

"It is basic human nature for a person who is confronted with two explanations; one he does not understand and one he does; to accept the explanation that he understands as the one that is more correct and more significant."

That got deep, fast.

The writer uses the terms descriptive-prescriptive erroneously. Prescriptive statements tell you that you should act in some manner, not why. Also, all of those other patterns they listed would also be descriptive, and the argument be used for them as well.

It's funny that people look at the universe, go "well we can't see that it's fractal, so obviously it isn't." It's like the coastline measurements. If you measure by the mile, you'll be hundreds of feet off. If you measure by the foot, you'll be off by inches, and so on. We don't have the capability to measure the universe at every scale. Fractals are useful, because they visually represent something that exists both in and out of the visual world. Very few people believe the universe, if you zoomed in/out far enough, looks the way it does in our eyes. However, it's very possible that at different scales, visual patterns, sound patterns, and many other sensory data patterns are repeated to infinity. (Side note: Vibrations play a large part in the fractal cosmology theory, and many people don't want to even try to understand it because it goes against many traditional religions.) The thing is, they are not very likely to be repeated at the same rate. You may find the repetitions in different scales, not lining up with each other. A visual fractal is simply like a graph, it allows us to look at data that isn't otherwise easily seen. Keep in mind, like most other ways of explaining the universe, a lot of this is speculation and not to be taken as fact. Take it with a grain of sand, salt, rice, whatever.

Let’s leave science to the scientists. It’s too hard for normal people to understand.

The first thing that came to my mind was a placenta. Exact same blood vessel patterns

They made a book out of that?

Yes ... it also appears ubiquitously in biological circulatory and/or neurological systems, to lightning and to rivers, trees, a coconut, most places in nature, the Swamps of Degobah, even Hell in a Cell (back in ‘98), my broken arms, jumper cables, some guy’s dead wife, with rice, etc.

my broken arms

Regards to your mom.

And you can watch them morph if you take acid in nature

It's also why math explains a lot of stuff in nature.

Ehh, rivers dont really form fractals as that's a product of geology vs biology. Biology is very big on fractals though.

Rivers absolutely do form fractal patterns, and fractals are found in all sorts of physical and mechanical processes outside of biology. As well as things outside of objective reality, just one example, Newton fractals are created by applying Newton's method to complex valued polynomials.

every single one of these patterns people are describing here is just a least resistance thing and rivers for sure form them

This is compeltely false. I have no idea why you think that.

Anyone who's ever gardened, transplanted a tree, or Googled this, knows it's absolutely not true. Structurally and by mass the roots look nothing like the above-ground portion of a tree.

Isn't that only for certain trees

Sorta, good catch! Most trees have root systems that branch out with primary roots and smaller roots in order to find that water, but the growth to find water and nutrients is usually quite a bit different in shape than that to find light. For example, some send taproots very deep to reach more water saturated layers of the ground, some have very wide and flat circular disk type roots (e.g. California valley oak) to reclaim nearby nutrients, etc. The growth and branching governed by its cellular programming is also different between roots and branches - branches will have specific determined places that new branches form from little buds. Roots don’t behave the same way necessarily from my recollection, it’s more randomized.

There are, however, trees that had root systems that developed exactly like their branch systems. The extinct Lepidodendrales (~300 million years ago) for example had an unusual branching “root” system that wasn’t like true roots. These (Stigmaria grew like branches underground, it was kind of a mirrored above-ground and below-ground branching development. Very unusual trees.

..."with roots above and branches below"

I thought of the nervous system. Anyone every been to one of those ‘Bodies’ exhibitions where they dissect and bisect people to show their insides? Always wanted to check it out.

My wife & I’s first date was to the bodies exhibit. Absolutely incredible, I highly recommend checking it out!

I was nervous & dumb. She’s an RN, so it made sense to me at the time. It was very odd, but hey, we’re married now!

Honestly I think it's a great idea (albeit expensive). I'm sure there was always something to talk about

It was fun, definitely memorable & educational. I’d love to go again now that I’d be a little less nervous. To make it an even weirder first date, we also had easily the wort dinner we’ve had in our 10 year relationship. So, we looked at dead bodies, went grocery shopping & had a disgusting dinner for our first date. Good times, haha

Totally nervous system. I have an exam on it in a week and immediately thought "dendrites."

My first thought was zombies. “Brains.... “... “brains...”

My first thought was blood vessels

Been to the permanent one in LA. I don’t think I could spend enough time in there

Yes it’s so cool. They also have just the nervous system and the entire system of arteries on display. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

It’s made because the rope is recursive in nature.

I’m this case the string is made of several smaller strings wound together, which themselves are made of smaller string, ect until you can’t get smaller.

Recursion is a programming term for a function that calls itself, and it is typically seen as an out of the box solution that is ideal for some problems but it’s weirdness bring some new problems along.

First thing I saw where Veins and blood.

I guess things like to split into things that split into things that split into things.

My first thought was placenta and umbilical cord. It's so weird

I think it looks a lot like a slime mold.

I thought of bronchi in the lungs.

Interesting, I immediately thought neuron and kind of assumed it was the intent for some reason.. Just didn't really think of the other options

Made me think of the into to 'house' straight away.

First thing I thought of was neurons

I thought of alveoli in the lungs

Roads it never happens in roads ... that's why congestions.

Maybe whatever you see first says something about who you are or what you do?

Or it's because it's facing up like a tree. Sideways for river. Down for lightning etc

I think it's called the Fibonacci sequence. Reoccurring pattern throughout the natural world.

It's how I get my drawings of trees and branches and whatever else to look as natural as possible haha.

it really is fascinating to think about all the places this pattern appears.

You must be profoundly stupid if something like this fascinates you, and it's not a "pattern", it's just the fucking concept of branching.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion-limited_aggregation

what is the point of your link? you know that your link is not what this is, right?

Except it kinda is. The pattern in the picture is a Brownian Tree, which in nature is often caused by the process of diffision limited aggregation. That's what people find fascinating about the pattern; it shows up everywhere in nature. The point of my link was to show that there's a specific scientific/mathmatical process that causes that shape; thus it is a "pattern".

The pattern in the picture is a Brownian Tree

It is not, actually. Maybe you should read up on what a Brownian Tree and Brownian motion actually are. I'd never heard of either, and yet I skimmed your links and immediately saw how inapplicable they were here.

"Brownian motion or pedesis (from Ancient Greek: πήδησις /pέːdεːsis/ "leaping") is the random motion of particles suspended in a fluid"

that isn't what is going on here at all.

the fact that Brownian Tree's look kindof like branching doesn't really mean anything here. it doesn't make this any deeper or more fascinating.

the process of diffision limited aggregation.

Crystals form through diffusion. Do they look like branching trees? No, they generally do not.

That's what people find fascinating about the pattern; it shows up everywhere in nature.

It doesn't though. It shows up in some places for an obvious and logical reason that is obvious through common sense. Showing awe at this just shows that you lack common sense.

You want to be in awe of something that "shows up"? Be in awe of Pi. You know, 3.14? That's something special. The concept of branching is not, it's mundane and obvious once you have a basic above-child-level understanding of how the world works.

Sadly a lot of people on Reddit don't seem to have that, or they smoked a blunt before posting.

The point of my link was to show that there's a specific scientific/mathmatical process that causes that shape; thus it is a "pattern".

And in that, you are wrong. So very, obviously, and completely wrong, that I have to shake my head in shame that we share the same species.

Did something crawl up your ass today because you are really coming off like a condescending prick for no reason.

Something you want to get off your chest?

Stupid people annoy me

Perhaps you can find a more positive way to vent that annoyance.

Why should I?

I'm perfectly content to shit on stupid people on Reddit.

Perhaps you should shut the fuck up and mind your own business?

You’d get your point across better, but if being a dickhead gets you off, do your thing.

Just know you look like a fool.

"Diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) is the process whereby particles undergoing a random walk due to Brownian motion cluster together to form aggregates of such particles... The clusters formed in DLA processes are referred to as Brownian trees. These clusters are an example of a fractal". This is one example of how this pattern appears in nature. There are complex mathematics behind the process. Obviously this is not the process that formed the yarn pattern, but the patterns are very similar so people tend associate them.

Nobody is in awe that someone untwisted a piece of yarn, they are in awe of the fact that similar patterns show up so frequently in nature. Again, Im not saying that the process behind it is the same everywhere it shows up, but the resulting pattern is the same and it is always an example of a fractal pattern. The resulting geometry is still the same no matter what process created it.

Crystals form through diffusion. Do they look like branching trees? No, they generally do not.

DLA is a specific type of diffusion that always results in a branching pattern. Crystals form through many different types of diffusion, so you're point is irrelevant.

I find it really sad that you feel the need to police what people can be in awe of. Awe is such an important part of the scientific process, it fuels the passion that motivates people to learn about the world. There's usually something interesting going on in nature no matter where you look, if you're willing to break things down far enough. Things aren't as obvious as they may seem at first glance. If someone finds something awe inspiring there's nothing bad about that, it's not really your place to tell them they can't.

This is one example of how this pattern appears in nature.

The rope pattern, "this" pattern, is not a DLA-induced Brownian tree. So you're wrong. Brownian trees

DLA is a specific type of diffusion that always results in a branching pattern.

Wrong. Example: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/F0gK290ZPPc/maxresdefault.jpg

There are complex mathematics behind the process.

Wrong again. It's literally just a RNG pushing a dot around.

Obviously this is not the process that formed the yarn pattern

Hence your whole comment is irrelevant

but the patterns are very similar so people tend associate them.

I disagree. They are not VERY similar. They have minimal, remote similarity in the broadest possible sense in that Brownian trees sometimes, but not always look branching. That's too wide of a net to cast.

Nobody is in awe that someone untwisted a piece of yarn, they are in awe of the fact that similar patterns show up so frequently in nature.

That's idiotic, hence my point. Idiotic because your example isn't "similar" and because the concept of branching exists for a basic and functional reason you shouldn't be in awe of if you understood that reason, which you should already know if you aren't a child and thought about it for 5 seconds.

the resulting pattern is the same and it is always an example of a fractal pattern.

It's not the same.
Saying "fractal" is meaningless, since "fractal" is such a broad category that really doesn't mean much, but the r/im14andthisisdeep crowd love the shit out of that word.

The resulting geometry is still the same no matter what process created it.

It is not, actually.

DLA is a specific type of diffusion

No it is not. Diffusion is diffusion. Diffusion-limited aggregation is a specific type of AGGREGATION, not diffusion. It is aggregation caused by diffusion.

Crystals form through many different types of diffusion, so you're point is irrelevant.

Wrong. (1) There are not "many types of diffusion", and (2) crystals do/can form through DLA, except DLA as a concept doesn't really happen in the real world because things in the real world don't grow 1 point at a time.

I find it really sad that you feel the need to police what people can be in awe of.

I'm not policing anything. I'm revolted at a shocking display of stupidity and am shitting on it as it deserves.

Awe is such an important part of the scientific process

It is not. It is not any part of the scientific process.

it fuels the passion that motivates people to learn about the world.

Awe fueled by stupidity is perverse reward for stupidity, and a perverse incentive to remain stupid.

There's usually something interesting going on in nature no matter where you look, if you're willing to break things down far enough.

Yes, I'm familiar with the concept of microbiology. I have been since I was a child. Thank you for pointing out something I've already known for decades, and which every non-retarded adult ought to already know. Do you always speak to people more intelligent than you like they were children?

Things aren't as obvious as they may seem at first glance.

They are to me, but then again, I appear to have shit figured out far better than you do.

If someone finds something awe inspiring there's nothing bad about that, it's not really your place to tell them they can't.

Hypocrite. I made it my place. Then YOU made it YOUR place to tell me I can't tell them they can't. I say again: Hypocrite.

Of COURSE you're too stupid to see the rank hypocrisy in what you're doing. That would require self awareness.

Lol this is some prime r/iamverysmart material. You already admitted in your last comment you weren't familiar with the concepts I was talking about and now you're pretending to be an expert. Anyways Im done here. You can go stroke your ego somewhere else.

Lol this is some prime r/iamverysmart material.

You're too stupid to understand that being r/iamverysmart material requires me to be stupid and pretentious. I'm neither. You're just too dumb to realize you're dumb.

You already admitted in your last comment you weren't familiar with the concepts I was talking about

Correct. I'd never heard of those things until you linked them. How sad is it for you that I understood new concepts immediately, while you have yet to grasp them?

now you're pretending to be an expert.

I do understand the concepts in question. They are simple. You don't, for some reason.

Anyways Im done here. You can go stroke your ego somewhere else.

My ego is in no need to stroking. I'm just calling you out on your supreme stupidity.

You don't "share" species, you belong to them, you absurdly retarded idiot.

You commented on 3 of my different posts. Go stalk someone else, idiot.

You don't "share" species, you belong to them, you absurdly retarded idiot.

That semantic bullshit is the best you could do? LOL moron.

This is a concept called "fractal". At every layer, there is a similar pattern above and below. It's the reason a piece of broccoli looks the same whether it is a tiny chunk, or an entire stalk. It has the same pattern and makeup. Similarly, probably the reason a human somatic cell and a human city have the same underlying processes.

Speaking of fractal broccoli, check out [romanesco broccoli] (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0200/5036/products/01793.jpeg)

Oh bro, first time I saw that I was kind of high at the grocery store, and it was quite a suprise... Acid Broccoli.

Why do you hate it? I think it's beautiful.

r/Trypophobia maybe?

Uuuuuugggghhhhhhhh I need to acid bath my brain. Now I know the name of the phobia I've always had. I hate you.

Yeah that is not a nice page. My bad lol

Recursive patterns like this are super common in nature

Where do we find this not-nature? It sounds dope.

Well, you're looking at it right now! Reddit threads do the same thing.

Much like the noble tree

Thank you u/R2Dota2, very cool!

You're right! It resembles veins, neurological patterns, lightning, tree roots, river flows. It's almost like each of these things follow the path of least resistance which creates sporadic, seemingly random and unrelated patterns that at the same time seem strikingly similar.

Humans do this too in culture and communities. Evolution itself is a fractal.

Source: I’m just making shit up I don’t really know what I’m talking about.

Your sporadic, seemingly random and unrelated patterns of making shit up seem strikingly similar to my own.

No. Culture does not evolve like that at all.

Ah, saw the edit. You had me riled for a moment.

Our infrastructure looks like this too. If you’re looking from space

Its called 'diffusion limited aggregation' and its an exttemely efficient way to cover a large surface area, which is the reason it's so ubiquitous in nature.

And why all maps are wrong.

It appears in the layout of our universe too. Nature finds a method that works and sticks to it, it seems. https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/680684/broader_universe_structure.0.png

Credit: https://youtu.be/rENyyRwxpHo

and how matter spreads out in the universe.

You might be interested in Constructal Theory, which seeks to formalize our understanding of this phenomenon. These types of natural patterns are the emergent states of systems governed by a handful of basic physics principles being maximized or minimized. Constructal Theory models this mathematically and applies it to engineering problems (such as heat sinks, structural systems, etc).

Here’s a basic primer: https://youtu.be/tgEBTPee9ZM

Yeah, you should watch The Fountain, by Darren Aronofsky. One of the central themes and images used throughout, are fractals to represent the brain/mind, plants/life, space/death.

And that all three are essentially a fractal. Death and life are the same, just viewed at different scales.

It's sort of ruined when Wolverine gets frustrated and straight up kills the spooky Aztecs, and then saves his wife, and then they fly into space.

The universe itself looks very similar to this on a massive scale, too.

Read up on constructal law. This pattern is everywhere and it’s completely natural. Shit will blow your mind.

Known as a dedicious pattern. In things from brain neurons to leaf and leaf veins to river deltas.

But didn’t the artist just chose to present it in this pattern to make it look more interesting than it is?

Could have done it for a number of reasons. Top one could be symbolic reasons, but yah, making it look good is cool too haha

Reminds me of a placenta with an umbilical cord.

Even how the cosmos spread throughout the universe

You ever look at a small rock up close and then look at big rocks from far away? Psychedelics would maybe blow your mind lol.

And cladistics tree showing the branching nature of evolution

Now THATS interesting as fuck

The Fibonacci sequence is no joke.

It’s a fractal yes

I thought of all those analogies at once. Like, a river of blood and lightning fast neurons.

What makes it look especially natural is that it naturally follows the same pattern of thickness, where the cross section area of each brainch is identical to the sum of the branches that grow from it.

that’s the point.jpeg

Roots, branches, leaf veins,

it's so weirdly ubiquitous in nature

it's not "weird", it's literally the only way to take a lot of spread out little things and combine them into bigger things. you're acting like r/im14andthisisdeep when it's just common sense.

Usually, it's the reverse, split one big thing into two, which then split into two, etc.

Although with rope obviously, it is as you say.

plants and organic systems are all about funneling or distributing resources, which requires this kind of branching. you see it everywhere because it's the only fucking way to do it organically. this is a matter of common sense. when I see people looking at this shit and being in awe, and a bunch of people are ITT, it makes me think of them as complete idiots like that American Beauty bag-in-the-wind scene.

That was harsh, and condescending, and empirically untrue.

empirically untrue

if it was, you would have backed that statement up to teach me a lesson about being condescending and harsh. you didn't because you couldn't.

how about a set of points in a straight line? Or a circle, or literally any other pattern? I've played "connect the dots" and they are not always fractals.

No... they correctly described the concept of fractals

Understanding and explaining science is not an automatic iamverysmart. Ironically, you are just making yourself look verydumb.

Artist: Janaina Mello Landini

Here's her website

On the one hand, these stairs are fun. On the other hand, broken neck city. Fucking human frailty.

Imagine trying to run down these

Imagine trying to ~~run~~ slide down these

FTFY

Something like this but more oofy ouchy.

Wow, that looks like a real good way to shoot yourself while breaking your legs.

I guess that's why they practice.

Or just walk up 2 steps at a time

A modern version of the historic stairs in Savannah, GA. Colloquially known as the "sobriety stairs"

even more fun when they are wet

You would have to start on your left foot, I would die.

I was carefully trying to climb up

Awesome! I've been vaguely trying to find this artwork recently and this is perfect timing :) thanks!

This needs to be at the top! Thanks for linking the artist!

CICLOTRAMA 19 (azul), de 2015.

http://www.mellolandini.com/album/ciclotrama-19-azul-2015?p=1

Damn, girl's been busy.

Someone should make it look like a human nervous system.

Just stick a couple of googly eyes at the top, job done.

r/UnexpectedDoctorWho

If you take out all of a man's veins and lay it straight on the floor, the man will die.

If you laid a blue whale across a football field, the blue whale would die because they need to be in the ocean to live.

Yup, looks nervous to me.

Jesus Christ don’t click.

I’m a frayed knot...

I will always upvote puns

r/PunPatrol DROP THE PUN SIR, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST PLEASE DO NOT RESIST! AND DO NOT MAKE A PUN FROM THIS SENTENCE!

That'll teach him to behave in a-cord-ance with the law.

So fun fact. My friend was in this pun competition once about knots and ropes and the lot.

This guy was a real sharpshooter so he was just making puns galore that blew all the other contestants out of the water, except this other dude who had Norm Macdonald level humor.

So a bunch of rounds pass and they're eliminating their opponents left and right, when in the final round they face off. But the judges are like holy shit the both of you have puns about knots that are equally as good, it would be unfair if we picked one over the other.

Anyway long story short it ended in a tie

So are you hung or hanged?

Hanged, while seemingly incorrect, is the correct one here.

Which is funny since "I was ran over" is incorrect.

My cats would destroy that.

My hamster would destroy that.

My 5yr old would tie the other end to the dog and have it ripped off the wall

I try not to have art in my home that would overexcite the cats. I love that art though.

Before the cats i would just step over it , fall down and cry. Assuming this must be one of those million dolla art pieces.

The little loop near the top is mildly infuriating.

I wonder if it came off or it was artist's intention to leave it up like that

100% their intention

That's just a reminder that it's not real. It's art.

It bugs me that the three strands of the first unraveling are different lengths.

I came here to say this.

I thought the exact same thing.

I can't zoom in far enough, but most roles are right-lay (as opposed to lang lay). Wait, I don't think that's good Reddit convo. Uh, maybe we should just name our favorite sailing knot. I'll start. The bowline.

What i really want is the rope of death if you know what i mean

"If you want to destroy my artwork, hold this thread and just walk away. Watch it unravel itll soon be canvas. Hanging on the wall, its come undone".

It’s fractileicious

That rope really ties the piece together

Reminds me of a placenta and umbilical chord.

That'll be $12,000,000

Interesting as fuck? Not really

The sub has had a pretty low bar for interesting lately.

My dog would love this.

Not many times I'll look at modern art and say that's actually pretty good. This is pretty good!

Another lovely thing cat owners can’t have

She’s a fan of Unravel I see!

It's not a tree, it's the axons and dendrites of the CNS, in the brain.

At what point does rope become string

1 rope, now 2, now 3 divisions, now 5 smaller divisions... Hmm I see where this is going.

this is modern art that I like

Best non traditional art I've ever seen

I think it looks more like blood vessels

Cool idea...new and innovative

I fucking love this but I don't know why

I love this. Very reminiscent of tree/plant roots.

Also it's strangely relaxing to look at. Must be the color.

See? This right here is the type of genius shit that makes me want to facepalm myself because I didn’t think of it first

I saw the notification and expected a pile of nylon. But this is oddly satisfying.

Looks like nerve cells

Love this...so well done

This is absolutely amazing.

Money for old rope this art business

Ah yes the Lichtenberg figure!

That’s actually kind of peaceful.beautiful,thx for sharing:)

Finally some real art

An unraveled rope

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