Ideas worth spreading

A mysterious design that appears across millennia

1,887,284 views |

Terry Moore |

TED2023

• April 2023

What can we make of a design that shows up over and over in disparate cultures throughout history? Theorist Terry Moore explores "Penrose tiling" -- two shapes that fit together in infinite combinations without ever repeating -- and ponders what it might mean.

What can we make of a design that shows up over and over in disparate cultures throughout history? Theorist Terry Moore explores "Penrose tiling" -- two shapes that fit together in infinite combinations without ever repeating -- and ponders what it might mean.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about the geometrical, cosmological and cultural meaning of five- and ten-fold symmetry in traditional Islamic design.

About the speaker

Terry Moore

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Terry Moore is the director of the Radius Foundation, a forum for exploring and gaining insight from different worldviews.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about the geometrical, cosmological and cultural meaning of five- and ten-fold symmetry in traditional Islamic design.