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The Golden Ratio 2342 Views


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Some people are just so...proportional. Might it be due to their proportional similarity to the Golden Ratio? Next time you notice your cute lab partner, try complimenting him or her with a well-placed comparison to the Parthenon, a plant, or a really nicely proportioned rectangle. Works every time, we swear.

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Transcript

00:07

The Golden Ratio, a la Shmoop. The Golden Rule is nice.

00:13

The Golden Gate Bridge is a work of art. And the Golden Arches are always there when

00:19

you need them. But the Golden Ratio is the most Golden of

00:24

them all. It’s everywhere you look…

00:32

… in nature… … in industry…

00:36

… even on your own body. Okay, so what is this golden ratio?

00:45

Wait – let me guess… one-half? <<DS OLD ENGLISH WOMAN VOICE –OEW>>

00:50

Nah… What about about two-thirds, dear? <<DS –OEW

00:54

Voice>> Nope, wrong again. The Golden Ratio is…

01:00

drumroll, please… One plus the square root of five- all over

01:07

two. Or approximately One point Six One Eight. Yikes-a-bee. That muddled mess is our Golden

01:15

Ratio? <<DS OEW Voice>> You betcha. But it wasn’t just some mathematician

01:20

who loves making kids break out in hives who came up with it.

01:25

The Golden Ratio, often represented by this symbol:

01:30

…is Mother Nature’s way of keeping things proportionate.

01:36

For example, measure the height, or length, of your face, and divide it by the width of

01:45

your face.

01:47

Pretty close to the Golden Ratio, wouldn’t you say?

01:53

What about the length from your elbow to your wrist divided by the length from your wrist

01:59

to the tip of your middle finger? If you’re not yet spooked out, keep trying

02:09

this trick with all sorts of things…

02:11

…flower height to flower width…

02:15

…television length to television width…

02:20

…and so on. It’s almost as if there is order to the

02:28

universe. What else can you find that closely approximates

02:31

the Golden Ratio?

02:32

Keep it clean, please.

02:34

YouTube blurb:

02:34

Even if you may not realize it, there is a particular proportion that runs rampant, popping

02:39

up nearly everywhere you look. Unless you’re currently inside a lumberyard with many long,

02:39

thin planks of wood, in which case… you can disregard.

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