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What Role Does The Recognition Of Patterns Play On The Acquisition Of Knowledge?

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Title 6: “Humans are pattern-seeking animals and we are adept at finding patterns whether they exist or not” (adapted from Michael Shermer). Discuss knowledge questions raised by this idea in two areas of knowledge. As innately curious creatures, mankind often discovers methods in order to better comprehend the world and their place within it. One of these ways is through the recognition of patterns throughout the material and psychological world. This recognition, and how it functions to form knowledge, is the stem for a myriad of fields whether it be mathematics or the arts and raises the central question: “What role does the recognition of patterns play in the acquisition of knowledge?” First and foremost, patterns are undeniably an …show more content…

This new information then becomes the basis for further information and can thus be applied to the natural world as observed with the discovery of patterns coinciding with numbers of the golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence. This comes to exemplify that patterns discovered in mathematics are paramount to the acquisition of knowledge, but the discovery of patterns would not be possible without intuition, which then stems another question: “To what extent are patterns dependent on intuition?” To a large extent, patterns exist as a product of one 's intuition. The instinctive and primordial nature of man’s ability to recognize patterns predates time itself and has been utilized to not only make sense of the world, but to allow man to thrive within it. For example, when researching the topic of evolution in my Higher Level Biology class, I recall reading an article by Dr. Brigitte Jordan, an anthropologist, who discusses a theory surrounding evolution coinciding with the adaptation to man 's ability to recognize patterns as a means to not only decipher the dangers and resources found within the environment, but also to adapt to utilize cognitive social skills with other humans. This usage of system one intuition is the basis for the innate pattern recognition within man. Furthermore, pattern recognition has evolved immensely through time and has allowed man to further understand

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