WEBVTT 00:00:02.189 --> 00:00:06.330 Hi, this week we have explored how shapes helps 00:00:06.330 --> 00:00:09.310 us to see things that might otherwise remain 00:00:09.310 --> 00:00:13.490 hidden. A graph gives visible shape to an equation. 00:00:14.429 --> 00:00:17.850 Symmetry reveals what remains constant through 00:00:17.850 --> 00:00:21.510 transformation. Topology looks beneath outward 00:00:21.510 --> 00:00:25.870 appearance to find a deeper structure. And mathematical 00:00:25.870 --> 00:00:29.710 models gives us simplified shapes that we can 00:00:29.710 --> 00:00:32.890 understand a reality. much larger than ourselves. 00:00:34.130 --> 00:00:37.329 But shapes do more than help us receive meaning. 00:00:38.009 --> 00:00:43.009 They help us communicate it. Each of us has thoughts 00:00:43.009 --> 00:00:47.530 and emotions and experiences living within us 00:00:47.530 --> 00:00:51.590 that we want to share. But the people around 00:00:51.590 --> 00:00:55.369 us cannot read our minds. So to communicate, 00:00:55.609 --> 00:00:59.649 we must give those invisible thoughts a form. 00:01:00.590 --> 00:01:05.250 We give them the shape of language. I experience 00:01:05.250 --> 00:01:07.549 this every time I record one of these reflections. 00:01:08.290 --> 00:01:12.090 As I speak in my computer, I can see my voice 00:01:12.090 --> 00:01:17.049 displayed as a waveform. Quiet words create smaller 00:01:17.049 --> 00:01:23.290 shapes. Louder words create taller ones. A pause 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:27.090 leaves an empty space. The rhythm and emphasis 00:01:27.090 --> 00:01:31.680 of my voice form a pattern that rises and falls 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:36.620 across the screen. Before anyone hears the meaning 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:39.959 of my words, my voice has already left behind 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:45.140 a visible shape. But communication is more than 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:50.900 sound waves. Sentences have structure. Stories 00:01:50.900 --> 00:01:58.370 have arcs. A conversation has a direction. Two 00:01:58.370 --> 00:02:00.769 people can communicate the same basic information 00:02:00.769 --> 00:02:05.590 while giving it entirely different shapes. I 00:02:05.590 --> 00:02:11.050 can't believe you did that! Has one shape. Can 00:02:11.050 --> 00:02:14.270 you help me understand what happened? Has another. 00:02:15.150 --> 00:02:19.150 One takes the shape of an accusation and the 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:23.430 other takes the shape of an invitation. Even 00:02:23.430 --> 00:02:26.750 artificial intelligence offers a surprising example. 00:02:27.629 --> 00:02:32.069 AI represents words and ideas within enormous 00:02:32.069 --> 00:02:37.270 multidimensional spaces. Related ideas are positioned 00:02:37.270 --> 00:02:41.129 closer together while unrelated ideas are further 00:02:41.129 --> 00:02:46.650 apart. And once again, something invisible, meaning, 00:02:46.789 --> 00:02:52.389 is given a mathematical shape. But perhaps the 00:02:52.389 --> 00:02:55.370 most important shape of our communication cannot 00:02:55.370 --> 00:02:59.080 be seen on a computer screen. It is the shape 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:04.080 our words create within another person. Words 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:07.860 can close someone down or they can draw them 00:03:07.860 --> 00:03:12.879 out. They can increase distance or create connection. 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:18.500 They can reduce someone to a label or help that 00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:23.780 person feel truly seen. Our words can take the 00:03:23.780 --> 00:03:29.150 shape of a weapon, a wall, a window, or an open 00:03:29.150 --> 00:03:32.830 door. Communication is not simply the transfer 00:03:32.830 --> 00:03:37.530 of facts from one mind to another. It is a form 00:03:37.530 --> 00:03:42.750 of art. We take something hidden within us and 00:03:42.750 --> 00:03:47.770 shape it so that another person might see, hear, 00:03:47.949 --> 00:03:53.669 and experience it. This week began with the shapes 00:03:53.669 --> 00:03:57.340 that draw us in, a flower, a sunset. a newborn 00:03:57.340 --> 00:04:01.580 baby, or a beautiful mathematical curve. So perhaps 00:04:01.580 --> 00:04:05.300 we should end it by considering the shapes that 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:11.419 we send back into the world. So every time you 00:04:11.419 --> 00:04:15.460 speak, you give shape to something within you. 00:04:16.660 --> 00:04:22.279 So our question to end the week is this. What 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:27.910 shape do you want your words to take? This is 00:04:27.910 --> 00:04:29.490 Dave from Intersecting Us.