what is pi anyway?

a line is not nearly as pleasing as a circle. but a straight line is easy to make. and a circle, especially a perfect circle, is quite difficult. additionally, imperfect circles leave us feeling anxious. so, we make our man-made world with straight lines–straight walls, straight doors, rectangular windows, rectangular rooms–boxes within boxes within boxes, and straight highways leading to straight streets and right angle turns to get to them. in part i assume it’s because america was able to lay grids across huge swaths of territory by the time much of the western world had already gathered into cities and villages shaped like spiderwebs. i’ve never understood why so many european villages are shaped like that. although if you think about it, if you asked 50 people to set up camp in an open field. they would not lay out grid lines and set up their tents in rows. they would informally arrange themselves based on a sense of personal space, and probably end up, in the end, forming a loose circle. maybe it’s what happens when humans decide how to live among each other, instead of engineers.

wreath of dried gingko leaves