Why Do Patterns Feel So Good?

People these days use the word “satisfying” a lot. Every time there’s something that’s aesthetically pleasing or evokes a sense of satisfaction and completion, people say, “Oh, that’s satisfying.” I always thought these satisfying moments in life came from watching concrete being ladled perfectly onto a brick surface, or chocolate melting slowly into an espresso shot as the hot coffee seeped into the nooks and crannies of a block of chocolate shaped like a snowflake perfectly balanced on the rim of a cup. We cannot deny that these moments, often captured on social media, are extremely difficult to create. So I started looking for other sources of this queer yet irrepressible satisfaction. I reminisced of the days when I would run my hand across the metal bars on railings, and when I saw a perfect row of freshly frozen icicles be shattered by an immaculate swing with a baseball bat. But through these memories, I was reminded of events of the exact opposite sense. I thought of a time when a backing track I was using to play stopped for a noticeable fraction of a second, and my playing was messed up, or when a decimal I calculated looked like a recurring decimal until I saw a different number on the 9th digit. I knew while pondering over this that patterns were the issue here. But I struggled to figure out why. Why do patterns feel so good?

This seemed like an unanswerable question. What’s the big deal? We see repetitions, or recurring things, and we feel happy about seeing them over and over again. Although I stayed in this camp for a while, I began to uncover the truth behind this mystery as I scoured the internet. 

There is a substantial amount of anatomy responsible for our excellent way of identifying patterns, and the reason why we feel so good when we come across them. There are three areas of the brain we need to focus on: the prefrontal cortex, the neocortex, and the hippocampus. All three of these sections of the brain aid us in catching sight of many of our surroundings. The prefrontal cortex is the main factor that differentiates us from other animals and mammals. During our evolution, this region of the brain expanded significantly, and thus our ability to take in what is in front of us and our surroundings was enhanced. The neocortex undertakes a similar role. Ever heard the phrase, “smooth brain”? This is referring to the thousands of wrinkles and dimples we have on the neocortex, the outermost layer of the brain. The millions of neurons in this area of the brain take in key identifying characteristics and use them to develop patterns. However, the hippocampus is a bit different. The hippocampus is a part of the brain where our ability of “cognitive mapping” originates. “Cognitive mapping” is a behavioral trait our ancestors developed, which allowed them to remember key food sources, predators, and their friends from foes. All in all, these three sections of the brain helped me understand the science behind this subject of patterns. Here’s my guess. 

My speculation is that all three areas of the brain work together to accomplish the goal of identifying patterns. First, the prefrontal cortex ensures that our eyes and other senses take in as much initial information as possible. The neocortex assists the prefrontal cortex in forming patterns and sequences. Finally, the hippocampus categorizes and assesses these patterns to identify in daily life. As the definition of cognitive mapping suggests, a break in a pattern or a disturbance to consistency can be compared to a predatory invasion. In other words, we sense danger when we see an error in a pattern. It is, in some ways, a matter of life and death. 

There have been many instances in history where our stunning ability to identify patterns, or our innate fear of facing outliers, has made us discover and build new ideas. In fact, many of our creations from pattern recognition have stemmed from a way of trying to rationalize the outlier, and finding a way to continue the existing pattern even with the presence of this change in the data. 

The popular restaurant chain McDonald's was founded through this exact method. Mixer salesman Ray Kroc one day got an order from a restaurant asking for ten mixers. Puzzled on why such a restaurant would need as many as ten mixers, Kroc attempted to investigate. When he arrived at the restaurant, he discovered that Dick and Mac McDonald, the owners of the restaurant, were completing orders in 15 seconds, making a grand total of 15,000 milkshakes every month. Stunned by the idea, Kroc launched McDonald's restaurants across the country, which would soon become the McDonald's franchise we know and love today. 

Fluoride toothpaste was also invented through a similar discovery. Dr. Frederick McKay was a dentist who saw patients from the Colorado Springs area. Although almost every single one of his patients had common dental diseases, some of his patients had brown mottling around their teeth. He later found out that, surprisingly, this condition prevented them from tooth decay and cavities. McKay discovered that the key substance responsible for the mottling was fluorine, an otherwise toxic chemical used for etching glass and making plastics. McKay’s research sparked dental companies to add small doses of fluorine compounds into toothpaste. Fluoride toothpaste also became the cure for tooth decay as a disease. 

Sometimes I wonder what would have been if we didn’t feel so comfortable and satisfied with patterns. Would we ever have had toothpaste? Or McDonalds? Probably not. So let’s give a toast to the human brain, the wonderful analysts who discovered outliers in their data, and evolution to express some gratitude for what we have.