Socrates, the
protagonist both in narrative and in discourse of Plato’s “Apology” was
described by the all knowing Oracle of Delphi as the wisest man. Socrates
however, believed that he possessed no wisdom whatsoever and in order to
resolve the conflict he pursued relentlessly the wise men of Athens. He
badgered and questioned the poets, politicians, powerful and wealthy of Athens.
In reflection, he realised that; while these men, along with all of Athens,
thought themselves wise and knowledgeable they were, in fact, not. Socrates
realized that the Oracle was correct, in that while so-called wise men thought
themselves wise and yet were not, he himself knew he was not wise at all,
which, paradoxically, made him the wiser one since he was the only person aware
of his own ignorance.
Plato
was put to death for his questioning of the Athenian preeminent, a true
fatality of ignorance. We, on the other hand, face no such consequences for our
questioning, aware of our ignorance we must come together to question,
challenge and pursue with rigorous fervour its reduction.
Phi, or the golden
ratio as it has been termed has the origins of its discovery in the proportions
of the human body. The Egyptians centred their system of measurements on the relative
proportions of their arms to forearms and forearms to hands, with phi as the
common ratio between them. It was from this observation that the pyramids, with
all their mind bending symmetry emerged.
The Parthenon took its
proportions from Phi, as did Da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man”. Phi emerges in the
structure of Galaxies and the Helix of DNA. It Evolves in the shape of foliage
and in the shocks of markets. Melodies form in its presence and aesthetics
conform to its incidence.
Of all the numbers
which are used in the reasoned pursuits of man Phi is omnipresent. Ironically;
the number so central to the rational appreciation of the world around us, the
bodies we live in, the art we admire and the music we love is irrational.
Unknowable in its entirety, phi represents the unremitting battle of man, not
for wisdom, but for the reduction of ignorance.
