This makes me feel very inadequate...

[sub39h]

recently i've been quite bored with my job with a fair bit of spare time on my hands. i started watching documentaries on maths and physics (always things that were slightly beyond my feeble brain). anyhow, recently, i was reading around on the Golden Ratio as it may be important in my future career aspirations.

the Golden Ratio is a ratio that has been defined by various mathematicians at different points in history. it is important in nature, as it defines many different things such as how a plant grows, how different animals spiral their shells and how big your torso is in comparison to your legs. (it has been identified that humans with more examples of the Golden Ratio in their anatomical structure are considered more conventionally attractive and the Golden Ratio forms the basis of Leonardo's Vitruvian Man.)

the Golden Ratio is also linked with the Fibonacci sequence, a sequence starting with 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8... where the next number in the sequence is made up by adding the previous two numbers. this also makes itself known in nature. for example, in the lineage of male bees, and in the branching pattern of trees. the number of petals on a flower are often numbers in the Fibonacci sequence.

my aimless rambling leads me to this: a 13 year old boy identified in 2011 that if you align solar panels in a branching structure like trees using the Fibonacci sequence, it increases their efficiency 20-50%. he has patented this idea, which no doubt will be very prosperous for him in future years.

so back to my original point - a 13 year old has left his legacy in the world already in the form of an important breakthrough in sustainable energy whereas i, a 25 year old, am resigned to watching documentaries on YouTube 

[Apollo]

I am sure the McLaren F1 was designed with the principles of Fibonacci .....sure it was mentioned in the access all areas documentary.....although no 13yr old boys where seen.....think they hid them out back 

[E30Dom]

Everything you do, you do for a reason... Now are these your choices or a preplanned path?

[sub39h]

Everything you do, you do for a reason... Now are these your choices or a preplanned path?

i never used to believe in fate until a friend told me this - at any given moment, if you know the mass and speed of a particle you can predict it's trajectory.

say we knew the precise location, mass and speed of all the particles at the point of the Big Bang, we could predict every subsequent movement of every particle, work out every reaction that took place beyond that etc.

the brain is nothing but a big collection of chemical reactions. in theory, those chemical reactions can all be predicted based on the above premise. so in theory, nothing we do is our choice. it is all a predictable chain of chemical reactions that originated at the point of the Big Bang.

now i don't know what i believe.

[Deako]

Everything you do, you do for a reason... Now are these your choices or a preplanned path?

i never used to believe in fate until a friend told me this - at any given moment, if you know the mass and speed of a particle you can predict it's trajectory.

say we knew the precise location, mass and speed of all the particles at the point of the Big Bang, we could predict every subsequent movement of every particle, work out every reaction that took place beyond that etc.

the brain is nothing but a big collection of chemical reactions. in theory, those chemical reactions can all be predicted based on the above premise. so in theory, nothing we do is our choice. it is all a predictable chain of chemical reactions that originated at the point of the Big Bang.

now i don't know what i believe.

Not at all. You have to take into consideration variables. You cannot predict a variable.

I do not believe in fate. Have no religious belief and never will.

It would be nice to leave a mark on the world, but it doesn't matter as in another 4 billion years (so as long as this planet has existed) it will have been destroyed and we will not have found a way to live on another planet or cryosleep.

[andrewparker]

I use the Golden Ratio every day in my job...

[sub39h]

architect/engineer?

[andrewparker]

architect/engineer?

Designer. We use the Golden Ratio (or Golden Section as it's more commonly referred to in graphic design terms) to define aesthetically pleasing grids.

[tony_danza]

My father in law is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, when our daughter was born, he wrote the following in the card.

Pure maths geekery..

[sub39h]

Everything you do, you do for a reason... Now are these your choices or a preplanned path?

i never used to believe in fate until a friend told me this - at any given moment, if you know the mass and speed of a particle you can predict it's trajectory.

say we knew the precise location, mass and speed of all the particles at the point of the Big Bang, we could predict every subsequent movement of every particle, work out every reaction that took place beyond that etc.

the brain is nothing but a big collection of chemical reactions. in theory, those chemical reactions can all be predicted based on the above premise. so in theory, nothing we do is our choice. it is all a predictable chain of chemical reactions that originated at the point of the Big Bang.

now i don't know what i believe.

Not at all. You have to take into consideration variables. You cannot predict a variable.

I do not believe in fate. Have no religious belief and never will.

It would be nice to leave a mark on the world, but it doesn't matter as in another 4 billion years (so as long as this planet has existed) it will have been destroyed and we will not have found a way to live on another planet or cryosleep.

i was watching another documentary recently on time travel

the conclusion to the documentary speculated that the only way time travel (particularly to the past) would be possible would be using computer simulations. it is noted that over the past few years computer power has grown exponentially.

as computer power tends to infinity, there will be infinite computer simulations of the past. if there is infinite simulations, the probability that we are living in one of the aforementioned simulations tends to 1. which leads back onto my argument of predictability.

it makes you wonder why there is so much order in the world. i do happen to practice a religion, tho i hardly ever use religion to explain what happens around us. (i tend to think that our Creator set off the Big Bang and left us to it.) but things like a Golden Ratio, the Fibonacci sequence cropping up over and over really makes me wonder...

[damoegan]

Not at all. You have to take into consideration variables. You cannot predict a variable.

I do not believe in fate. Have no religious belief and never will.

It would be nice to leave a mark on the world, but it doesn't matter as in another 4 billion years (so as long as this planet has existed) it will have been destroyed and we will not have found a way to live on another planet or cryosleep.

Have to fully agree 

[Mk5 GTian]

Whooooah! Deep thread!

I think I'd better go and look at the one with nigh-on nude fitties draped over Golfs 

[vRS Carl]

Seriously don't worry about it. I used to get my arse handed to me by 10yr olds in Brazil playing counter-strike online 

[Bane]

Me likes biskits.

[Tortaruga]

Ahh Fibonacci, the Golden Section...memories of lectures at Art College (I studied Architecture). Corbusier's modulor man is another one you could look at.

I have to say I do use these principles when I'm designing buildings. However you can't become a slave to them as sometimes an 'off' proportion can look better in the grand scheme of things. VERY subtle adjustments can make a huge difference in design. When you look at something that looks just 'right', and often apparently very 'simple', you can be sure that hundreds of hours of design development went into it.

I'd imagine the VW design department are well aware of these proportioning systems - the gti is a good looking car.