The Circular Trap

The modern world is partially caught in what I call the "Circular Trap", and it is really something that should have a name. The Circular Trap is all about our thinking.

For thousands of years, ceramic bowls, cups and, vases have been made on a potter's wheel. A potter's wheel is necessarily circular and it is difficult to break with the way that things have been done for thousands of years, even when new technology comes along.

Property lots and the floor plans of buildings tend to be rectangular, or right-angled. The reason is simply that the dimensions of space are right-angled and so this is the only form that will fit together with no leftover space. This is also why boxes are right-angled, this is the only shape that can be stacked with no wasted space.

So here is the question. Why are property lots, floor plans and, boxes almost always right-angled because it is the most efficient use of space but pots, like the one above, bowls, vases, plates and, cups are circular? It is because of the momentum of thousands of years of using the potter's wheel, and we have great difficulty breaking out of it, even though the potter's wheel isn't needed anymore. 

This is what I call the Circular Trap.

Despite being the most efficient use of space, because the dimensions of space are at right angles to one another, the right angle form is somewhat alien to us and is rarely seen in nature. The cylindrical form of most pottery, including glass, is much more visible because it is the form of the trunks of trees. There are cylindrical buildings, but it is usually done for decorative reasons.

This is St. Casimir's Church in Buffalo, image from Google Earth. Domes are attractive, from both inside and outside, but spatial efficiency inside the dome is not a factor.

This does not mean that right-angled is always the best form in all situations. It is easier to drink or pour from a circular spout. A cylindrical form means that the edge is always the same distance from the center and this makes rolling, whether paper towels or sheet metal used in manufacturing, more efficient. It is also more aerodynamic, having no edges, and more efficient for things like electrical transformers.

But the fact remains that the right-angled form is more space-efficient. Milk containers and jugs are usually right-angled, except for the pouring apparatus, but most other food containers aren't. Looking around the kitchen here, almost all containers that hold food or ingredients are cylindrical, only a few are right-angled. Today, right-angled containers are just as easy to make and would be considerably more space-efficient. It is no more difficult for us to hold a right-angled container than a circular one. It's just that mass production and transportation is relatively new, and our thinking hasn't caught up to it yet.

This is what I call the Circular Trap.

In the Nineteenth, and early part of the Twentieth, Century large volumes of liquid were stored in those common wooden barrels. A craftsman who made the barrels was called a "cooper". The barrels were made of the cylindrical shape that they were so they could be moved short distances by rolling, and bulged in the middle to facilitate rolling. The following image is from the Wikipedia article "Barrel".

The descendant of these barrels is the standard metal 55 gallon drum of today. When you hear of "barrels of oil", this is what it means. This image, from the Wikipedia article "Drum (Container)" shows a standard 55 gallon drum.

But these barrels of today are rarely moved by rolling. They are usually always moved short distances by forklift, either while on a pallet or with the forks under the ridges on the sides of the barrel, or by dolly or cart. So why are they still made cylindrical when being right-angled would be much more efficient in terms of space?

Suppose that a truck is carrying a load of standard 55 gallon drums. The drums are cylindrical and, because of the simple geometric fact that circles cannot fit together with no wasted space, at least 30 percent of what the truck is carrying is empty space. Over time, this simple inefficiency has cost billions because the drums would be more efficient if they were right-angled. 

In this image, from the Wikipedia article "Drum (Container)", you can see how much wasted space there is because the cylindrical drums cannot fit together with no wasted space.

This applies to anything that is in a package or container, from products on grocery store shelves to barrels of oil or industrial chemicals. It is an illustration of how our thinking works. Technology has advanced far beyond the potter's wheel, that was in use for thousands of years, but our thinking has only partially caught up. You can see this on your next visit to a grocery store.

I don't believe in space aliens but if they existed, and came to earth, this is one of the first things that they would wonder. Why do we make so many things cylindrical when it wastes so much space?

A common goal is to come up with new ideas by "thinking outside the box". But in this case the box is the goal and we need to "think outside the circle".