Two months ago I wrote this comment in a thread about the healing power of gardens/nature: I've had a theory for some time now based on my own observations: A

Two months ago I wrote this comment in a thread about the healing power of gardens/nature: I've had a theory for some time now based on my own observations: A big part of why nature is so calming is the absence of repeating patterns. In our artificial life everything follows standardized forms and patterns. It's a sterile world. The most obvious example being rectangles and perfect 90 degree angles everywhere. But I would also count things like uniform colors, evenly spread (artificial) light, predictable sounds etc. That makes me think that somehow something like this absence of patterns - and the knowledge/assumption for our brain that they are not to be expected in nature - helps us. The beauty in this is that nature _is_ full of patterns. But on a different level, no two patterns are ever the same. When you look at a green tree you simply won't assume to find two leaves with the same color and shape -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19693343 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19693343 A comment by patcon linked the following article: http://nautil.us/issue/47/consciousness/is-consciousness-fractal http://nautil.us/issue/47/consciousness/is-consciousness-fra... A fascinating read about fractal patterns in nature and how they feel “just right” to us