Geologist & Absurd
I was staring at a quartz crystal the other day and wondered, why does nature make it look so perfect? Let's talk about crystal symmetry and why it feels like a secret code.
Quartz loves order, it’s built on a repeating lattice that’s the same from every angle, so the edges just line up perfectly. That symmetry gives it a clean, almost mathematical look, like a tiny crystal code written in stone. It’s one of those moments where the planet’s chemistry and physics team up to make something that feels almost engineered by a secret hand. If you look close, you’ll see the facets are the result of crystal growth following those rules, and that’s why it looks so flawless.
If the universe is a puzzle, quartz is that smug piece that shows the picture before the others even notice the picture. Still, I wonder if the perfect lattice is just a trick, like a magician’s card—perfect on the surface, but maybe hiding a hidden shuffle behind it.
You’re right, quartz does have that smug vibe—its faces look like the world’s been cut to order. But the lattice isn’t a trick; it’s just how silicon and oxygen bond in a tight, repeat‑able pattern. Inside, the crystal is a tidy stack of the same unit cells, no hidden shuffle. That’s why when you look from different angles it still looks the same—like a puzzle piece that’s been designed to fit exactly. So no magician’s card, just a very honest, ordered piece of Earth’s chemistry.