rf/_input/posts/garden-path.md

---
title: Garden Path
published: 2019-02-12
---

> disclaimer: stupid train of thought

paths through the local gardens are weird things, and there was something specific that caught my attention today so i wanted to share it.

## forest paths

youre at your local forest reserve, the gardens, and youre walking around. youre checking out the forest cos its cool, and you wanna get deep into them, but youll get lost.

*luckily* for you, the city put in a ***garden path***

this path is something you can follow to get **into** the forest, and keep following to get **out of** the forest.

> but tA, whats so bad about that, forests are a cool place to hang out ~~if youre a spider~~

the problem is their *function*

## function

garden paths are, functionally, escape paths.

they **guide** your way to the exits of the forest.

thats all they do, thats what they should do.

## form

imagine youre the first person to have to make a path through the forest. you dont really know how to do it you just know it has to be done, so you snake around looking for a way out until you find one, just building as you go.

you end up with this innefficient mess of path.

***but*** people love it, they come from all round just to visit, which creates the next step

## copies

everyone else starts designing their forest paths to be like that first one, paths are judged based on how similar a thought they can provoke, thats all anyone cares about.

the weird inefficient paths are what people want, and its what we get

## final thoughts

forest garden paths are some weird self sustaining ideal that i think are sorta neat, theyre real fun to walk through and theres not often people there.

`wq`