That was so cool and neat! Makes me want to go grab my book on labyrinths again - not the square maze ones, but the round ones (the most famous example being the minotaur one) and read up on those again.
Well, if this is somehow related to why we like circles so much, then you are catering to that like with your circle/symmetry posts - and I really enjoy it. :D
Well, I don't say our tendency to move in circles is the (one/main) reason why we like circles. But there is maybe something "circle-ish" inside of us ;) Maybe a physical urge to create circles?
I'd really like to have a look at your book. Do you have a favorite maze? I am not certain about the history of labyrinths but as much as I know, the rounds ones are the old ones, right. I connect square ones with baroque gardens.
Perhaps...have you ever noticed that if you try to draw a person, that we're made up of round shapes? You can do square people, but we automatically gravitate to round shapes - I remember reading a book on perspective once, and it said that if you take a house and break it down to its basic shapes, you get squares and triangles and rectangles. Try to do this with a person and you're going to get mostly ovals and circles (mostly!)
Dunno if that's entirely relevant, but I found it neat when I really thought about it.
The book I've got is 'The Unending Mystery: A Journey Through Labyrinths and Mazes' by David W. McCullough. It's neat. :D
And yes, you're correct as far as I can recall - the oldest labyrinths are the round ones, and you start getting mazes with more modern stuff. (Relatively speaking.)
I don't have a favorite maze, sadly. They're all neat to me, though!
It sound like a banality (body = round vs. houses = squares) but It just came to my mind that our tiniest structures, the cells and blood cells are round too. But then again: atoms are round (or do we just imagine them to be?) and the electrons move in circles - as do the planets.
I've seen neolithic temples on Malta and they where round - shaped like a cloverleaf - and they are build in stone. When you think of, for example, traditional african cots, they are round too. One might think houses that are build with natural material like branches and leaves are most likely round and those build with stones are in squares. But there's obviously more to it.
There aren't very many square shapes in nature, as I recall. Inorganic things like rocks are square, and the cells of plants are square, but until the microscope we didn't really get to see the square cells thing. And so many other things in nature are circles - cut a tree down, see the rings in its stump. And so on. It is kind of banal/obvious, but I think it's worth thinking about.
*nodsnods* Most likely. And even with our square buildings, when we build castles the towers are usually round, farm-house silos are round, and even in our biggest cathedrals there are giant circular stained glass windows.
Well, if this is somehow related to why we like circles so much, then you are catering to that like with your circle/symmetry posts - and I really enjoy it. :D
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I'd really like to have a look at your book. Do you have a favorite maze? I am not certain about the history of labyrinths but as much as I know, the rounds ones are the old ones, right. I connect square ones with baroque gardens.
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Dunno if that's entirely relevant, but I found it neat when I really thought about it.
The book I've got is 'The Unending Mystery: A Journey Through Labyrinths and Mazes' by David W. McCullough. It's neat. :D
And yes, you're correct as far as I can recall - the oldest labyrinths are the round ones, and you start getting mazes with more modern stuff. (Relatively speaking.)
I don't have a favorite maze, sadly. They're all neat to me, though!
Reply
I've seen neolithic temples on Malta and they where round - shaped like a cloverleaf - and they are build in stone. When you think of, for example, traditional african cots, they are round too. One might think houses that are build with natural material like branches and leaves are most likely round and those build with stones are in squares. But there's obviously more to it.
Reply
*nodsnods* Most likely. And even with our square buildings, when we build castles the towers are usually round, farm-house silos are round, and even in our biggest cathedrals there are giant circular stained glass windows.
So. Yes. There's something about circles for us.
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