“The best thing we have going for us is our intelligence,
especially pattern recognition, sharpened over eons of evolution.”
– Neil deGrasse Tyson
Recognizing a pattern in your life for the first time is like getting your first pair of glasses. Once you recognize a pattern, things around it start to fall into place. Research indicates that our ability as humans to identify patterns, is what separates us from the animals. Humans have been relying on pattern identification since the days of cave people; what types of plants are safe to eat? Which types are poisonous? Where have the buffalo been migrating to graze? Humans however vary greatly in their ability to identify patterns, and have been broken down into simple groups; Number Smart, Word Smart, Visually Smart and People Smart.
People who are considered “Number Smart” have the ability to detect and predict patterns in numbers. People who are “Word Smart” are often able to identify patterns in speech and writing, and re-create it. People who are “Visually Smart” can visualize things in a three dimensional space, think of it like 3D Tetris. Finally, those who are “People Smart” are able to identify patterns in people, their behaviors, their words and their actions. As with most personality groupings (Meyers-Briggs, Enneagram, Big Five etc.) people who are a part of a specific group, find themselves better at certain jobs. If you are “Number Smart”, you probably want to work with numbers in some way, maybe as an accountant or at a bank. If you are “Visually Smart” you may find yourself drawn to art or architecture. If you are “Word Smart” you may be an excellent writer or comedian. And if you are “People Smart” you will probably find that you are drawn to jobs that are people-focused, such as a teacher or a therapist.
The most important part of being able to recognize patterns is the opportunity it provides for change. If you identify a negative pattern, you can remove it from your life or work to improve it. If you find a positive pattern in your life, you could potentially be able to find more of this positivity. Overall, patterns allow us to discover things about ourselves and the world around us.
References:
Barkman, R. C. (2018, January 18). People Patterns. Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/singular-perspective/201801/people-patterns
Barkman, R. C. (2018, January 18). See the World Through Patterns. Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/singular-perspective/201801/see-the-world-through-patterns
Miemis, V. (2010, April 10). Essential Skills for 21st Century Survival: Part I: Pattern Recognition. Retrieved from Emergent by Design.
Tyson, Neil de Grasse (2015), Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey-transcripts (Episode 3), When Knowledge Conquered Fear.
