Blog · 26 Oct 2026

Pokémon card heist, who made rectangles, and more

Hey folks,Rectangles are probably the most common shapes we see.

Pokémon card heist, who made rectangles, and more

Hey folks,Rectangles are probably the most common shapes we see.

If you just look up from your screen for a second, which, by the way, is also rectangular, you’ll notice that a lot of things around you are rectangular too. The door, the almirah, the newspaper, most books.But here’s the thing. Nature doesn’t usually come with things that have neatly cut corners. Most things in nature, rivers, tree branches, clouds, the sun, etc.

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have irregular or rounded shapes. So where exactly did all these right angles come from?Well, you could blame (or thank?) something called grid sensitivity. It’s a term that researcher Dinesh Katre uses in an old research article to describe our tendency to prefer straight lines, right angles and staying within borders.Of course, we aren’t born with it.

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