I am fascinated by circles and make no secret of it. Circles to me represent continuity in nature, our imperfection as a species, Plato’s realm of ideas and the vast infinity of the universe - among many other things!
If this sounds a wee bit intense, allow me to explain why I am obsessed with the shape:
Firstly, depending on your definition of ‘perfection’, a perfect circle may or may not exist to you. I use the word in its most absolute sense here.
Essentially, there are two broad ways to think about circles:
- From outside: a circle is a polygon with an infinite number of sides
- From inside: a circle is a set of points which are all equidistant from the centre
A circle can also be thought of as a shape that holds an infinite number of line segments running from the centre to the circumference. Circles in other words, can ‘hold’ infinity. There is a catch to this however, for a circle of any given size - it is possible to conceive a bigger circle. Hence infinity still eludes us. This drove Galileo nuts!
The Law of Imperfection:
It is a physical impossibility to build an absolutely perfect circle. Sure, we can define a perfect circle mathematically as x^2+y^2 = r^2
However, even if you construct a circle on a microscopic level, if you continue zooming in, the circumference will eventually break down.
So, why does this matter?
A circle is merely a symbol denoting what we understand and agree upon to be true - in other words, we know what a perfect circle would look like…but we’re still not there yet. We are merely an imperfect species bringing our notions and ideas into reality.
All circles have an error in their radius.
Perfect circles only exist in the mind.
