Psychology Today | 17.11.2025 06:18
There’s an image from basic mathematics that has been resonating with me lately. If you trace a small point on the rim of a spinning wheel and watch only its vertical position over time, the path you see a smooth, regular undulating wave that some may recall as a sine wave. But that wave is only the shadow of something that is more full and interesting. Behind it is a continuous circular motion that is rich with direction and momentum. If all you ever saw were the oscillations, you’d never truly guess the circle that produced them.
