Hey folks,
Rectangles are probably the most common shapes we see. If you just look up from your screen for a second, which, by the way, is also rectangular, you’ll notice that a lot of things around you are rectangular too. The door, the almirah, the newspaper, most books.
But here’s the thing. Nature doesn’t usually come with things that have neatly cut corners. Most things in nature — rivers, tree branches, clouds, the sun, etc. have irregular or rounded shapes. So where exactly did all these right angles come from?
Well, you could blame (or thank?) something called grid sensitivity. It’s a term that researcher Dinesh Katre uses in an old research article to describe our tendency to prefer straight lines, right angles and staying within borders.
Of course, we aren’t born with it. We pick it up over time. Think back to when you were a child. You probably didn’t colour within the margins of a drawing. You just scribbled away until someone taught you that the lines were boundaries and that staying inside them made your art look neat and organised.
The same logic applies to grid sensitivity. As we grow up, we learn to organise the world using lines, margins and boxes. And rectangles are particularly useful because they make things easier to measure and organise.
Take a piece of land, for instance. An irregular patch can be difficult to measure, divide or build on. A rectangular plot, on the other hand, is much easier to measure, own and develop.
That’s one reason why civilisations gradually began using rectangular layouts to organise their surroundings. Over 4,000 years ago, the Harappans laid out their cities on a grid and used bricks with a fixed 1:2:4 ratio of height, breadth and length.
And there’s a good reason we’ve carried this preference forward. Rectangles fit neatly side by side without leaving gaps, which means less wasted space when building a wall, arranging a shelf or packing a shipping container. Katre also points out that our eyes naturally take in a wider field of view than a taller one, which makes wide frames feel comfortable to look at.
So it’s hardly surprising that modern architecture still relies heavily on rectangles. And it might even explain why round pizzas come in square boxes.
Heck! Even Japan’s square watermelons were grown with partly this logic in mind. Farmers in Zentsuji started growing them inside boxes to make them look unique and boost demand for their crop, while also ensuring they could be stacked easily and fit into small refrigerators. But funnily enough, something that was originally designed to save space and make storage easier can now cost around ¥21,600, or roughly $200. And instead of being eaten, these watermelons are often sold unripe as pricey gifts.
So yeah, rectangles might be unnatural, but they make life a whole lot easier. Unless, of course, you force the shape onto something that was never meant to be one.
Here’s a soundtrack to put you in the mood… 🎵
SIMP by The New Bombay Collective
You can thank our reader, Saurabh Agarwal for this groovy rec.
If you want your recommendations featured in our Sunday editions too, send them our way. Especially hidden gems from underrated Indian artists that many of us may not have discovered yet.
Ready to dive in?
What caught our eye this week
Why are thieves stealing Pokémon cards?
Last week, thieves pulled off a Hollywood-style heist in California. They broke into a FedEx truck parked outside the headquarters of Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) and stole valuables worth around $963,000.
But the stolen boxes weren’t filled with gold bars or expensive gadgets. They contained Pokémon and sports cards that had just been graded by PSA.
Now, grading is simply the process of checking a card’s condition and authenticity before assigning it a score. A card with barely any imperfections could get a 10, or a “Gem Mint” grade, meaning it’s in exceptionally good condition. The lower the grade, the less valuable the card can become.
PSA is one of the biggest companies in this business. Collectors send their cards to PSA, which grades them, seals them in protective plastic cases and sends them back.
And this wasn’t an isolated incident. Earlier this year, thieves in California cut a hole through a neighbouring shop’s wall to steal Pokémon cards in less than ten minutes. In another case, a convicted crypto-hacker used some of his $55 million loot to buy first-edition trading cards.
Now, if you grew up trading Pokémon cards with your friends during school lunch breaks, this probably sounds absurd. Back then, these cards were just for fun. Of course, owning a rare one also meant you could become the most sought-after kid in class!
So then how did these simple cards turn into high-stakes investments that now attract organised crime?
Well, you could say it happened in three stages.
It all began with nostalgia. Millennials who grew up collecting these cards started buying them again as adults. Many wanted to get their hands on rare vintage cards they couldn’t afford or find when they were children.
Then came the pandemic. Lockdowns gave people more time to revisit old hobbies, while influencer stunts added fuel to the fire. For instance, Logan Paul bought a rare Pikachu card for over $5 million and later resold it for $16.5 million. Suddenly, collecting cards wasn’t just about reliving childhood memories. It had become a digital marketplace frenzy.
And finally, the hobby evolved into a full-fledged industry, with collectors and investors chasing valuable cards and treating them as assets.
But if you’re wondering why people are willing to pay so much for these seemingly trivial pieces of cardboard, the answer lies partly in the quirky psychology of the collectibles market.
Simply put, it is powered by emotion disguised as finance. There’s a connection here to what economists call the “Lipstick Effect”. When big-ticket purchases like houses or luxury cars feel out of reach, people look for smaller things that make them feel good. It could be a Labubu doll, a miniature Hot Wheels car or a vintage trading card.
These purchases offer comfort, a connection to childhood or a sense of belonging to a community. In a way, you’re not just buying a collectible, but also a little piece of nostalgia.
But there’s another thing at play here. Not everyone buys collectibles for the same reason. There are two kinds of players in this market. First, you have passionate collectors who buy cards because they love them. Then you have speculative investors who care less about the cards themselves and more about how much they might sell for later. Some even expect their collections to appreciate by over 36% every year!
And when these investors flood a hobby built by passionate collectors, the bandwagon effect kicks in. Collectors refuse to part with cards they cherish, keeping the supply limited. Speculators see prices rising and want in too. But when they can’t get their hands on the cards they want, enthusiasm can fade, prices can crash, and the cycle starts all over again.
This is also probably the reason why thieves stole the graded cards from the FedEx truck, thinking that they could resell them for a hefty profit.
But there’s a catch. Every card graded by PSA comes sealed in a protective plastic case with a unique barcode. After the robbery, PSA deactivated the stolen cards’ certification numbers and alerted marketplaces worldwide to watch out for them. That makes selling the cards in their original cases much harder because the thieves could try breaking open the cases. But doing so would destroy the protective seal and the official grade that helps establish the card’s condition.
And if that grade is what makes a card so valuable, breaking the case could significantly reduce its resale value. So what looked like a million-dollar haul might actually be worth much, much less.
Talk about a catch-22!
Readers Recommend
This week, our reader Anjuna V K recommends reading The Elsewhereans by Jeet Thayil. It’s a novel about the author’s personal life and experiences. And it talks about their journey across cities and countries, weaving together family stories, old photographs, and historical events. It also explores how constant movement shapes their identities, relationships and sense of belonging, asking whether home is a place or something we carry within us.
Thank you for the rec, Anjuna!
That’s it from us this week. We’ll see you next Sunday.
Until then, send us your book, music (preferably from underrated Indian artists), business movies, documentaries, or podcast recommendations. We’ll feature them in this newsletter! Also, don’t forget to tell us what you thought of today’s edition. Just hit reply to this email (or if you’re reading this on the web, drop us a message at morning@finshots.in).
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