Pythagorean Theorem of Beauty

The ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 BC) discovered a relationship between right triangles. It would be incorrect for me to say he created it, as this relationship would exist whether he knew of it or not. Math exposes truths that are already there. Pythagoras' theorem is something we may have learned in geometry (or perhaps we discovered it on our own like Pythagoras did). It is the relationship of the three sides of a right triangle: a² + b²= c². C is the variable, the unknown yet to be discovered. Like an argument: there is your perspective, their perspective, and then there is the truth to be discovered.

Knowledge Grows Appreciation

I think many fear to learn things that are not single-narratives, out of fear of cognitive dissonance. (Some fear science because it might contradict something they already believe, and some fear philosophy because it might ask questions they do not have answers for.) But if you are not afraid of ideas, the study of science and philosophy gives us a perspective to own uncertainty. It is only when we do not explore knowledge that we dismiss uncertainty; removing all unknowables produces opposing viewpoints. There is uniformity with knowing and not knowing — they are ends of the same continuum. There is only contradiction when there is knowing one thing and believing something else.

If everything is known, where is spark? Where is wonder? Knowledge is not only growing what we already know but also awareness of what we don't — which is another type of knowledge. For some, the gap between knowing and not knowing is frustration, but for others, this same gap produces appreciation.

When I see Isabel from space, physics and Taoism do not contradict, they enhance my understanding of the beauty in natural occurrences. More than without this knowledge, more than if I had only studied one. Through physics I appreciate the parts. Through Taoism I appreciate the whole. The pairing of ancient wisdom with modern science creates a sacred geometry of appreciation. If a is science, and b is philosophy, then c, to me, is artistry. And through this lens, the world seems beautiful.

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