Here, we define an anonymous function that takes x as a parameter, similar to {}.

Yes, the curly braces {} are doing the same thing in this context as they do when defining a function. In R, they are utilized to form a section of code that must be executed as a unit, which is a common practice in R, not unique to purrr.

When you utilize %>%, the {} block functions similarly to an unnamed function that takes the input from the pipe and enables you to perform various operations on it.

By using pipes (%>%), {} enables you to handle several expressions as one anonymous function.