Comments on: Fast Company Design, John Brownlee and the Golden Ratio “Myth” in Design

By: Stickman Hook

Stickman Hook — Thu, 13 May 2021 03:40:09 +0000

There are indeed false claims about the golden ratio that unfortunately lead to confusion about it.

By: Soclikes

Soclikes — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 16:05:46 +0000

I know the conception of golden number, but I think it is not this case. Parthenon is more complicated building that build not our civilization

By: Eliza Carr

Eliza Carr — Fri, 19 May 2017 19:36:10 +0000

After reading this article and a couple other about the Golde Ratio, I think it would be hard for anyone to say that the Golden Ratio isn’t researched or provable because it obviously has been researched and proved. There have been a bunch of tests and study’s done specifically about how the Golden Ratio applies to beauty and how it’s been used in art and design. It is good that arguments for both sides of the argument on whether the golden ratio being used in design is a myth or not. However, I think it’s nearly impossible to argue against something that has been proven multiple times.

By: Torus

Torus — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 18:39:47 +0000

I often wonder why those who discredit the golden ratio are so motivated. If you don’t see it, ok, but why the need to publish poorly researched articles with such energetic waste. People are often difficult to trust, but the world around us tells us that certain proportions are favored in this experience we are all sharing.

By: Cary Weldy

Cary Weldy — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 11:38:48 +0000

Wonderful article…thank you. John Brownlee did a very poor job conducting research on the Golden Ratio, so thank you for correcting his misinformation. Brownlee’s article in Fast Company does a discredit to the power of the Golden Ratio and a disservice to artists, designers, and architects who are interested in such matters. For us dowsers and scientists, we know how to measure the “divine” energy that emanates from the Golden Ratio, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and it certainly does attract people, even from our own studies using hidden symbols behind two identical advertisements, for example.

Again, thank you for your brilliant piece.

By: Nigel Reading

Nigel Reading — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 09:16:33 +0000

As a manifestation of dynamical systems Universality and the Constructal law of design in nature and culture,
the golden ratio is actually a key, optimal, analogical geometric signature of a new design theory of everything.

https://medium.com/@ASYNSIS/asynsis-an-extremely-mean-theory-of-everything-fbb95d5f53d8

http://www.scoop.it/t/asynsis-principle-constructal-law

http://about.me/asynsis

By: Nigel Reading

Nigel Reading — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 09:10:40 +0000

“Hidden harmonies are more than obvious.”
Heraclitus

TED would demur on this FastCo polemic (and on WIRED et al’s recent articles too).

But really, looking exclusively at only Spatial interpretations are so last century anyway.

And does that also mean the entire repertoire of plant phyllotaxis is an illusion?
Plants are telling us something, that we need to think harder about the Temporal, thermodynamics and morphogenesis, as Alan Turning did in his last research on the Fibonacci series, phyllotaxis and morphogenesis before he tragically died at an early age.

We need to look at both the animate and inanimate, at the dynamical and space-time, not just the frozen and static. It seems the way nature works is to manifest the golden ratio not as a spatial fossil, rather an optimal temporal energy flow signature. An efficiency (& beauty) constant.

All this current argument is only over the residue or sedimentary forms of these dynamical flows – so we are missing half the picture (as I’ve been saying since first publication in AD Magazine).

https://asynsis.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/entropy-begets-design-qed-2/

What the sciences of complexity and dynamical systems have been sharing recently is that the golden ratio is one of several optimal, analogical geometric signatures of how nature evolves emergent complexity most easily – over time.

It’s a dynamical behaviour, a verb not a noun.
It’s not the phone number, but the action of dialing.

Here’s how I Tweet it:

#Asynsis #DaoOfDesign on #TED at #TEDxWanchai #HongKong.
A New, Extremely Lean, Mean (#Design) #TheoryOfEverything

http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/Form-follows-flow-%7C-Nigel-Readi;search%3ANigel%20Reading
http://asynsis.styleonedigital.com/archives/4017
http://about.me/asynsis

The very latest examples (including E8 & ER=EPR #Universality), are shared here (enjoy!):

https://www.facebook.com/pages/AsynSo%CF%86ia/202383966558282

By: Chris Heath

Chris Heath — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 04:45:32 +0000

There doesn’t appear to be any evidence in Brownlee’s article to support his proposition that the golden ratio is BS. Brownlee’s research illustrates a shallow understanding of the subject, and like you, my first thought when reading it was that it was a straw man argument. If Brownlee had spent years studying this topic, he would have discovered a number of useful methods for applying the golden ratio and its related ratios to design.

Brownlee even mentions a study from the Haas School of Business at Berkeley in support of his arguments, and quotes the ratios 1.414… (The square root of 2) and 1.732… (The square root of 3); both of which are irrational numbers. If the author had dug a little deeper, he would have discovered the relationship that these ratios have with the golden ratio and their usefulness to design.

We are brought up to use linear measurement systems (metres and millimetres, feet and inches, etc) and this is how most people measure the world around them. For many people, being able to grasp a proportional system of measure is a paradigm shift to far. Surprisingly, the easiest way to put irrational numbers to good use, is to ignore the mathematics behind them altogether. With a couple of sticks, a bed of sand and a piece of string (or a compass and straight edge), these ratios are easy to generate and are relatively easy to embed into a design.

Brownlee’s quote “The golden ratio is always going to be a little off” is complete nonsense. The golden ratio is an irrational number. It’s never going to be off. It’s as perfect as Pi. It would be more valid to say that because there is variability in natural systems (thanks to working with whole numbers and constantly changing environmental factors), you will never find the perfect golden ratio in Nature, not even in a Nautilus shell; nor in any man-made design.

The lack of perfection that arises from natural variability is not a valid argument for dismissing the golden ratio’s usefulness. Nature works with whole numbers of cells, hence the Fibonacci sequence is often a better fit to what we see in the natural world. Relative to other shells, the Nautilus shell just happens to exhibit a spiral that varies little from the golden spiral; but vary it does, and no two Nautilus shells are identical. Likewise, you can’t use a compass to create a perfect circle. Any slight wobble in the compass, or change in pressure is going to introduce variation to the curve. This subtle variation may be imperceptible to the human eye, but it is there nonetheless. This lack of perfection will never stop us from putting subtly imperfect round wheels on our cars.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 27 May 2015 13:29:13 +0000

In reply to Alex.

Let’s take a look what Wikipedia says about …

Cynicism … is an attitude or state of mind characterized by a general distrust of others’ motives believing that humans are selfish by nature …

Psychological projection … According to some research, the projection of one’s negative qualities onto others is a common process in everyday life …

Pseudoskepticism (or pseudoscepticism) is a term referring to a philosophical or scientific position which appears to be that of skepticism or scientific skepticism but which in reality fails to be so … The tendency to discredit rather than investigate … Making unsubstantiated counter-claims …

and so on. We know that this kind of very bad journalism is a byproduct of the Internet (or Digital Culture).

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 15 May 2015 16:22:30 +0000

FastCo Design publishes some good material but much of it treads a fine line between skepticism and cynicism. The golden ratio article is a great example of that. Designers can be insecure about their methods and FastCo loves to shout, “throw away everything you know, because The Future is coming!” And in doing so, the implication is that if you are holding on to outdated beliefs, you’re an idiot, and not fit to be a member of Digital Culture. So thanks for providing a counterpoint to that cynical attitude.