Mathematica uses the golden ratio as the default for plot dimensions; it does seem arbitrary but when you have to pick a number, why not this one?
IMO the spiral stuff is very "seek, and you will find", but at least as a twist on the 'thirds rule' of photography it makes sense to me this way: the mind is always seeking a way to fold things, because if it finds something is symmetric down the middle, it only has to remember half of it. Basic compression. Thirds makes it a bit more "interesting" but even then you're better off breaking the rule: if a pattern looks close to symmetric, we tend to linger on it, as our minds' gears turn to say "is this easy to compress or not?". Kind of like a march vs swing music: an even tempo is easy to match and rather uninteresting, but once you add some entropy and syncopation, it becomes a locus for attention.
As an aside, the golden rule "do unto others as you would have others do unto you" always seemed similar to the golden ratio's definition "the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the greater to the less", anyone else notice that? I always wondered if they're etymologically related.
IMO the spiral stuff is very "seek, and you will find", but at least as a twist on the 'thirds rule' of photography it makes sense to me this way: the mind is always seeking a way to fold things, because if it finds something is symmetric down the middle, it only has to remember half of it. Basic compression. Thirds makes it a bit more "interesting" but even then you're better off breaking the rule: if a pattern looks close to symmetric, we tend to linger on it, as our minds' gears turn to say "is this easy to compress or not?". Kind of like a march vs swing music: an even tempo is easy to match and rather uninteresting, but once you add some entropy and syncopation, it becomes a locus for attention.
As an aside, the golden rule "do unto others as you would have others do unto you" always seemed similar to the golden ratio's definition "the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the greater to the less", anyone else notice that? I always wondered if they're etymologically related.