Card #11 – ”Find A Pattern” from the Creative Whack Pack

Available on the iOS App Store and as a physical deck of cards

Much of what we call is our ability to recognize patterns.

As the old adage goes: Once is an instance, twice may be a coincidence, but three or more times make a pattern.

We find patterns all around us:

• We see similarities: stellar galaxies and water emptying out of a bathtub both spiral in the same way.

• We calculate probabilities: the more graffiti on the back of a road sign, the more difficult it will be to hitch-hike a ride from that spot.

• We observe tendencies: terminally ill nursing-home patients are more likely to die after a holiday than before.

• We make connections: neighboring stars in the night sky form the outline of a lion (the constellation Leo).

• We recognize self-fulfilling prophesies: people who delight in synchronicity find meaningful coincidences almost everywhere.

• We see relationships: the tighter a government s restrictions on its press, the less prosperous that society s economy is likely to be.

• We notice sequences: Fibonacci numbers consist of adding together the two previous numbers to create the current one: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 and so on.

• We arrive at correlations: on the whole, bigger animals such as whales, elephants, and humans live longer than smaller animals such as mice, hummingbirds, and snakes.

• We discern behaviors: people in crowded elevators tend to look at the ceiling.

• We discover laws: the force of any object say a two-ton boulder rolling down a mountainside into the side of a wooden barn equals its mass times its acceleration.

• We detect flows: money moves away from weakness and toward strength and opportunity.

• And, we discover personal inclinations: when I’m hungry or tired, I m more likely to get irritated.

How do we find patterns?

Often they just pop into our heads. But we can also find them by getting into a pattern-seeking frame of mind. First we notice something that has occurred one or more times. Then we focus our thinking and look for or remember other things related to it.

As the ancient Philosopher Heraclitus put it: The cosmos speaks to us in patterns.  Our job is to listen for them.

Note: The pattern underlying the pineapple displayed in this card s Image is the 16-sided hexadecagon. The main part of the pineapple is a hexadecagon which has been divided into 28 rhombi (eight with 22.5° angles, eight with 45° angles, eight with 67.5° angles, and four squares). The upper part of the pineapple consists of seven 22.5° rhombi and six 45° rhombi flipped up.

What patterns do you see in your situation?

What rhythms describe its flow ?

How do some of the following patterns apply to your issue?

• A stone dropped into a still pond will create concentric ripples.

• If you want to catch something, first you must let it go.

• A caterpillar builds a cocoon before becoming a butterfly.

• Water evaporates, forms into clouds, and then returns to earth as rain.

• The earth looks flat unless you see it from a great distance.

• Bad things tend to happen in threes.

• If you drop a glass on the floor, the largest piece will fly the farthest from the point of impact.

• There is a tendency for a group, individual, or team to go soft after it has been successful.

• For maximum lift at takeoff, an airplane flies into the wind.

• Good things tend to happen in pairs.

• A storm clears the air.

• Rewarding a specific behavior encourages it; punishing a specific behavior discourages it.

• If a tree doesn t get its roots deeply into the soil, it will be blown over in a storm.

• When it is cold outside, you can see your breath.

• Thunder comes after lightning.

• When there is no moon, you can see more stars.

• If you exercise a muscle, it strengthens; if you don’t, the muscle atrophies.

• Warm air rises and cool air sinks.

• Fruits and vegetables are best enjoyed when they are ripe.

• The closer an ice skater’s arms are to her body, the faster she’s able to rotate.

• If you smile at another person, they’ll probably smile back at you.

• A river with power will create a straight path; a weak river will meander.

• People remember their first love.

• The squeaky wheel gets oiled.

• The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.

• Examples of the 20/80 rule: 20% of the customers voice 80% of the complaints; 20% of a group gets 80% of the results.

• A train is louder as it approaches you than when it moves away from you.

• Opposites attract.

• Even cold water feels warm when your hands are freezing.

• Parkinson s Law: Work expands so as to fill the time available for completion.

• The amount a person uses his imagination is inversely proportional to the amount of punishment he’ll receive for using it.

• If a swimming pool is comfortable when you dive into it, then it is too warm to do a serious workout in.

• Couples prefer to adopt female babies.

• Also, females are more likely to be put up for adoption.

• Long wide brush strokes make restful landscapes.

• You can’t eat your dessert until you eat your vegetables.

• When a school of fish changes direction, a new fish becomes the leader.

• Sound takes longer to reach you than light.

• The air smells clean after it rains.

• People tend to treat other people the way they were treated as children.

• Dust accumulates in corners that are hard to reach.

• Telephone operators receive most of their crank calls during the full moon.