A blog about connections, so I can write about whatever I like, everything's connected right?
I’ve been thinking recently about patterns. I like patterns and I don’t think that is strange or unique, in fact I think it’s a very human thing. I’ve written previously about puzzles and about how they help us to spot patterns, but I’ve been thinking more about why it’s important to spot patterns and why we find them so pleasing.
Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy has summarised his work by saying: “My mind searches for patterns and structures as I contemplate the unexplored reaches of the mathematical landscape.” He is talking about how he sees a lot of mathematics as searching for patterns, whether it is patterns of prime numbers, or symmetry groups. But patterns are not just important in mathematics. Searching for patterns helps in a lot of contexts. For example chess Grand Masters memorising games, or concert pianists memorising mus