Patterns are everywhere, to the point that I wonder if something has to be a pattern for us to even perceive it. A pattern is something that repeats. That something can be a pattern in space, like floor tiles or it can be a pattern in time, like sounds in music. You can think of the world around us as patterns in time and space where the persistence of objects allows us to see them. Their existence repeats over time. If something were to pop in and out of existence randomly, I’m not sure we’d notice.
We perceive patterns in behavior over time as well. We classify people based on the patterns we see in their behavior. If they consistently do what they say they’re going to do, we call them reliable. If they’re always on our side, we call them loyal. If they repeatedly let us down, we consider them untrustworthy.
Identifying patterns is what allows us to predict what might happen in the future. Patterns are at the core of how our fast brain (our emotional brain) handles everyday interactions. We have a set of rules (heuristics) that we use to quickly decide if what’s going on around us is threatening or not and how to react.
We’re also good at seeing patterns where they don’t exist. Our many cognitive biases could be seen as our brain creating false patterns and behaving as though they were true. We don’t handle random occurrences very well. We want to assign patterns to them and give them meaning they don’t have. We only pay attention to the things that fit our imagined patterns and ignore the rest. The result is superstition and false conclusions.
Science is based on discovering and testing patterns so we know they’re truly reliable. We design experiences (experiments) and look for results that can be repeated. Every time we roll a ball down an incline, it accelerates at a predictable rate. We’ve found a pattern, and we can use that pattern to understand more complex patterns, or we can use the reliability of those patterns to build machines that also behave reliably.
In a way, patterns are what make civilization possible. We harness patterns of nature to build machines. We harness patterns of human nature to build governments and institutions. We pass laws to try and counter patterns of human nature that work against the common good. We pass along what we’ve learned about patterns to our young so they don’t have to figure it all out themselves.
Over thousands of years, we’ve identified patterns of thinking that allow us to identify other reliable patterns in the universe and the world around us. Mathematics, the sciences, systems thinking, and economics are some of the most useful patterns of thinking we have. They’ve produced bodies of knowledge that have helped us do everything from splitting the atom to determining the fastest route to your favorite coffee shop.
Ideas, mental models, generalized principles, processes, inventions, physical objects, thinking tools, knowledge, games… they are all patterns or collections of patterns.
In the 1970s, Christopher Alexander was able to identify and record about 250 patterns of architectural design that he published as A Pattern Language in 1977. Since then, his method of recording patterns has been used to document knowledge in other areas including computer science, interactive design, pedagogy, and social action.
I’m currently writing several pattern languages. “World That Works” attempts to document what a world that works for all humanity might look like. “Start With Universe” attempts to document patterns of thinking that lead to a strong understanding of how the world works and how you might improve it. I’m also exploring the idea of writing pattern languages based on certain books, as a kind of Cliff’s Notes in pattern form.
I look forward to sharing them with you soon.
