CHAPTER 3
Recognizing Patterns
Invention establishes relationships that did not previously exist. In its barest essence, the element of innovation lies in the completion of a pattern or in the improvement of a pattern that was unsatisfactory and inadequate.
—A. P. USHER, A History of Mechanical Inventions
PATTERN RECOGNITION is the act of making sense of complexity. Patterns enable us to anticipate what will happen next.
The human brain is the world’s best pattern recognition machine. It identifies faces and voices. It spots familiar shapes among clouds and stars or in wallpaper designs and ceiling tiles. It can create new musical forms and artistic figures. It enjoys the patterns of jokes and dramas, especially the unexpected twists. It ...
Get Juice now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
