9:1 - Fractals

When & Where: I heard this word within the last year while listening closely to the lyrics of the song "Minds Without Fear" by Imogen Heap and Vishal-Shekhar,:

"Nearly every inch of us on the line

Plucking on the string of everything

That could have been

Search and rescue

Treasured fractals of our lives"

**The song is based upon the poem "Where the Mind is Without Fear" by Rabindranath Tagore.

Definition: According to merriam-webster.com, fractals are, "any of various extremely irregular curves or shapes for which any suitably chosen part is similar in shape to a given larger or smaller part when magnified or reduced to the same size."

Level of Familiarity: I have never seen this word before. It sounded and looks a lot like "fractions." I assumed it had something to do with math because of this resemblance.

Reflective Commentary: This seems like a word that is not necessary to know unless you deal with math or concepts in physics, or unless you want to generate a cool wallpaper design for your computer/phone/iPad, etc. I think it is interesting that they chose to sing the word fractal to describe bits of life. Although they are irregular shapes, they are ultimately identical pieces of a larger pattern.