Our Beautiful Fractal Nature
Except from Our Fractal Nature A Journey of Self-Discovery and Connection
“The most important decision you will ever make is to decide once and for all whether you live in a universe that is supportive, that supports you and is friendly, or whether you live in a universe that is hostile and is not supportive.”
– Albert Einstein, Physicist
In a study on visual complexity and perception of beauty, researchers found, “the fractal dimension measure accounts for more of the variance in judgments of perceived beauty in visual art than measures of visual complexity alone, particularly for abstract and natural images. Results also suggest that when colour is removed from an artistic image observers are unable to make meaningful judgments as to its beauty.”
―Forsythe, A., et al. (2011). “Predicting beauty: fractal dimension and visual complexity in art.” Br J Psychol 102(1): 49–70.
Fractals
“In discerning our fractal nature, we are nature contemplating and embodying ourselves.”
frac * tal — noun. Term from Mathematics, Physics, Life and Nature. Latin fract(us) — uneven + al, fraction of something, a term introduced by French mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot.
A fractal is a textured geometric shape. It can be split into parts, each of which is roughly a smaller version of the larger part, exhibiting self-similarity.
While fractals are a mathematical construct, they are found in nature, artwork, our bodies, the stock market, and the universe. They behave in a magical way, as if the dimensions of the structure — its fractal dimensions — are greater than the spatial dimensions. In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Our Beautiful Fractal Nature
We start this fractal journey with a puzzle. Pick a number between zero and nine. Now, write down your number.
How many other numbers could you have chosen?
For some people, fractals will never represent anything more than stunningly-beautiful geometric shapes, unique motifs repeating themselves, like the mesmerizing contours of nested Russian dolls getting smaller and smaller, or the infinite length of a walk along a Caribbean beach, or the way avalanches spread across the rocky surface of Mount Everest. For others, our fractal nature contains insights about our physical bodies and our health, about relaxing our nervous systems, opening our hearts, and enabling us to see our various choices in life and our place in the living universe.
In fractals, we find beautiful patterns that illuminate the relationships between our physical health, our emotional attitudes, our financial well-being, and the meanings we see in our lives. By perceiving the patterns, it helps us answer the question of who we are and what we are here to contribute.
Fractals help us understand how each part is linked to the others. We are made up of a community of cells, organs, systems, and processes, and similarly we live in communities of individuals, families, towns, countries, and even star systems.
Throughout Our Fractal Nature are questions that will light a pathway into our conscious and subconscious minds. The answers will allow us to see the incredible freedom we have concerning our choices about health and wellness and the many ways we can contribute to our communities.
There are many more questions and answers in the online environment, available to anyone wishing to change, heal, and discover how to make life more meaningful for themselves, their families, and their communities.
How can you more fully connect with the beautiful patterns in your life?
Mathematics is about clarity in the science of numbers. Fractal geometry is a description of numerical relationships in nature, both inside our bodies — our vital blood-vessel networks, the healthy variability of our heartbeats, the tree-like branching contours of our nervous systems, our protective cell membranes — and in our environment — a seashell’s repeating contours, a leafy fern’s recurring self-similar shape, the irregular pattern of lightning striking the Earth.
Fractal geometry is not the mathematics of high school, which is more commonly known as Euclidean geometry. Euclidean geometry was developed to describe regular shapes, such as smooth lines, circles, squares, and triangles. Fractals, on the other hand teach us to think outside the square — or outside the box — and along the edges of a rough, irregular shape.
An exploration of the remarkable design principles contained within our fractal patterns encourages us to scan the information in our lives with more self-awareness. This approach to life leads us to function more comfortably as we thrive in the knowledge of our inclusion in life. Reassurance is found by truly seeing the natural patterns and the support found everywhere around — and within — us.
Where are You in the Tapestry of Life?
Fractals are designed beautifully by nature. Our bodies are made up of fractals. We are beautiful.
In his groundbreaking work from 1982, The Fractal Geometry of Nature, Benoit Mandelbrot describes how fractals account for a long list of natural forms, ranging from Coastal Redwoods to our life-sustaining respiratory systems and our spiraling DNA. The essence of fractal geometry — where there are no straight lines — is that the deeper you look into their structure the more detail and insights you find.
The details along the winding road of life can be fractal-like in their roughness and complexity, but, at the same time, they can also be beautiful and satisfying to navigate — especially when we pay attention and learn from the repeated patterns of our past.
What will change in your life if you are brave enough to recognize your beauty and your place in nature?
Connect to Your Fractal Health
Carefully observe the complexity of a green leafy fern, a puffy white cloud, or sit under a shady tree today.
“I figure, if my predictions for the future may or may not be true, it only makes sense to predict the best possible outcome for every situation. As a friend of mine once said, “Act as if you are the universe’s favorite.”
Originally Published at Our Fractal Nature A Journey of Self-Discovery and Connection by Kimberly Burnham, PhD (Integrative Medicine). A Messenger Mini Book, 2011.
