A "pattern" is an underlying structure that organizes tangible or intangible objects into a consistent and regular manner. Patterns can be things that occur naturally or they can be man-made samples, guides, or models.

When we talk about a "patterns in nature", the simple idea of repeating geometry or characteristics is an insufficient description that fails to consider that nature's patterns never stand alone. They are always a component of larger patterns and contain patterns within themselves. They are connected in ways that can produce surprisingly simple systems of patterns. Nature's patterns are windows that permit us to view nature. According to Ray Kurzweil, the fundamental reality in our world is patterns. He notes that "It is patterns that persist and constitute the foundation of what fundamentally exists".

Patterns are usually thought of in spatial terms. A ram's horn, a honeycomb, a fern. But, patterns can be anything, whether invisible or visible. Time, behavior, and the Internet are also patterned, connected objects even though they aren't directly connected to our senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, or sound.

To study individual patterns without studying their connections to neighboring patterns and their surrounding environment ignores underlying reality. While it is useful to describe a component pattern in terms of shape or form -- a spiral, a hexagon, or a Fibonacci number, this definition of a pattern has only limited meaning until it is fitted into a larger pattern which includes an understanding of the connection between the units and the system.

Connectivity exists between layers of patterns resulting in "super patterns" -- connected patterns that exist at higher levels. A fish school is a beautiful dynamic pattern composed of individual fish (patterns in themselves) that exhibit self organizing behavior patterns that result from a fixed set of swimming rule patterns embedded in each fish. The fish's sensory organs (eyes and lateral lines) that collect nearest neighbor data are also patterns as is the actual information flow.

Formally, one might say that patterns in nature are relationships manifested as both structure (form) and as dynamic process (function). Patterns work in the context of larger patterns called “environment”.

Some common characteristics of patterns are:

• Patterns are manifestations of an underlying order of both form and function.
• Each pattern is a component of a connected system.
• Patterns contain symmetry.

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