Apparently, if I can recall correctly, the manner in which surface area is maximised and quantity of mass used is minimised. |
??? The surface area of a celestial body will tend to be
minimized, not maximized. A sphere is the three-dimensional shape with the minimal area for any volume. The ratio between the two is not constant, in case you were wondering.
How could mass "used" (whatever that means) be minimized? A planet is a collection of matter moving through space. Once it has accreted there's no way for it to lose [a significant portion of its] mass, unless it collides with some other object or something.
Phi can be argued to be of greater significance, should we assess significance by the quantity of people assisted. |
Cultural relevance is not what's in discussion. The argument about phi is about whether some intrinsic property of it links it in some way to aesthetics, in the same way that pi is linked to circles. Like, if in the painting I'm making I put this character at 61.8% from the far right, does that inherently make the composition more pleasing to the eye than at any other arbitrary location? Why? What's the mechanism behind that?
That's the argument. Cultural relevance just tells you that people have talked about it. All sorts of bullshit has been talked about that's completely divorced from reality, like homeopathy, psychoanalysis, and religion. Throughout history people have believed all manner of nonsense for no other reason than because it felt good.