The Golden Ratio (why it is so irrational) - Numberphile

Why HN readers recommended it

HN calls it illuminating for explaining why phi is the most irrational number, relevant to hashing, spirals and phyllotaxis.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

Numberphile

Topic

golden ratio irrationality

Format

explainer

Level

intro

HN recommenders in dataset

3

HN mentions in dataset

7

Recommendation years in dataset

2018–2026

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• Golden ratio is not arbitrary, it solves the problem: How to make sure nothing lines up. This link gets passed around a lot and it's very illuminating, demonstrating that the golden ratio is objectively "the most irrational number": [VIDEO]

• a mind-rewiring video by numberphile concerning the golden ratio [0] made sense of all the spiral overlay art: yes, plants use it because it is an optimal solution for minimizing overlap when sprouting leaves during growth, maximizing spatial coverage but also, as a number that …

• The article attempts to explain this property of phi: > Maybe you have a picture of a flower, and you want to implement “every time the user clicks the mouse, add a petal to the flower.” In that case you want to use the golden …