Fibonacci Curves = God

Posted by Greg Laden on December 12, 2007
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This could be the proof of god:

The assertion made by the “Does God Exist” people is that a pattern must be designed, and that patterns don’t occur in nature. But it is possible that there is another way to look at this.


Like, the Fibonacci sequence is the natural outcome of common aspects of additive growth, or of packing.

Plants do not know about this sequence – they just grow in the most efficient ways. Many plants show the Fibonacci numbers in the arrangement of the leaves around the stem. Some pine cones and fir cones also show the numbers, as do daisies and sunflowers. Sunflowers can contain the number 89, or even 144. Many other plants, such as succulents, also show the numbers. Some coniferous trees show these numbers in the bumps on their trunks. And palm trees show the numbers in the rings on their trunks.

Why do these arrangements occur? In the case of leaf arrangement, or phyllotaxis, some of the cases may be related to maximizing the space for each leaf, or the average amount of light falling on each one. Even a tiny advantage would come to dominate, over many generations. In the case of close-packed leaves in cabbages and succulents the correct arrangement may be crucial for availability of space.

[source]

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Comments

  1. #1 Jason Failes
    December 12, 2007

    So, a human mathamatician creates an equation that describes a number of natural phenomenon, and……….GOD! (somehow)

    And subatomic particles curl? I would advise anyone else watching this to check out all of his claims. Some are overstated, to say the least.

  2. #2 Lucas
    December 12, 2007

    (begin math pedant) It is not true that f_{n+1}/f_n is the golden mean (as he states). Rather, the golden mean is the limit of the ratios. (end math pedant)

    I love how the thing ends–”are you picking up a pattern!!??” Ok, yes. There are lots of patterns in nature, and some of them are the result of mathematical laws (as this one probably is, though I don’t know enough about it to say what law it is exactly). This does not mean that god created these patterns.

  3. #3 Beth
    December 12, 2007

    I heard from a math prof I TAed for that the curve of the shell of the chambered nautilus doesn’t actually fit the Fibonacci spiral as closely as was once thought.

  4. #4 Greg Laden
    December 12, 2007

    Lucas and Beth: Indeed! There are many, many errors in this video.

  5. #5 ryana
    December 12, 2007

    If the Fibonacci sequence is proof of “god”, then why isn’t in the Bible? why did Hindu mathematicians and Arabs have it first?

  6. #6 the real cmf
    December 14, 2007

    –”are you picking up a pattern!!??”
    Yeah: everything that the Christian intellect stumbles at understanding or explaining = G-d. ( after the initial WOW!! of actually having an intellectual epiphany wears off)