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Fractal of the Day
by Jim Muth
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Fractal enthusiasts and visionaries: Green and magenta just don't blend harmoniously. They create a chromatic discord. But sometimes discords can add to the artistic value of a work of art, so I let today's color palette stand in its discord. Combined with the writhing, twisting elements that surround the central midget, the picture fully deserves the name "Writhing Discord". The picture (as indeed are all my pictures) is in the spirit of a fractal of 10 years ago -- a single-layer image that would have been awesome in the days when people were just discovering fractals. Sometimes when I sample the images posted to ABPF, I wonder why I bother calling myself a fractal artist at all. It's clear to me that those creating the images I see there are doing something far more artistic than my humble and not very serious efforts. Actually, I have never outgrown the awe I felt when I read that first article about the Mandelbrot set over 15 years ago. I am an explorer, a fractal photographer who tries to faithfully record the things he finds in the abstract world of fractals. If the things I find do occasionally make art, so much the better. Today's image was colored to create the impression of an actual object that exists in mathematical hyperspace. The parameter file will reveal the object in about 5 minutes. The image is also available on Usenet at: The fractal weather was brisk and breezy today, with blue sky, puffy clouds and a fractal temperature of 61F (16C). These conditions are perfect for fractals. Such conditions are also quite good for pondering. The ultimate question I'm currently considering is, "where were we before we were born, and where will we be after we die?" This question can be simplified to, "was there life before birth and will there be life after death?" Strangely enough, most people can peacefully accept a definite 'no' answer to the first part of the question, even as they tremble in the face of a 'no' reply to the second part. Yet in both cases the situation is the same -- without a functioning body there is no mind. Before the living physical body existed the mind did not exist. It is just as rational to state that when the functioning body no longer exists there will be no mind. To a rational thinking person this conclusion is so obvious that to question it is absurd. The mind is an emergent phenomenon, somehow created by the activity of the central nervous system. The concept of a mind without a brain is as meaningless as the concept of a smile without a face or traffic without vehicles. Science does not address the survival issue because it sees no possibility of survival. Science simply sees no question to address. This is why questions such as 'is there life after death' are sometimes met with ridicule from serious scientists. If we want answers to this question, we must turn to religion. Yet when we study religion, we find nearly as many different answers as there are religions. Many of these answers are contradictory; all of them cannot possibly be true. And religious answers demand faith -- how can someone who has no faith in faith accept the irrational answers of conventional religion? With this less-than-optimistic beginning, I'll end today's discussion. But there's much more to come in the near future, when things could get pretty deep. For now, don't forget that sometimes things turn out to be a lot less bleak than first appearances. That's the end of another FOTD fractal folks. The next entry in the unending journal will appear in almost exactly 24 hours. Until then, take care, and things are never so good that they can't get better. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com |
START FORMULA==============================================
MandelbrotMix4 {; Jim Muth
a=real(p1), b=imag(p1), d=real(p2), f=imag(p2),
g=1/f, h=1/d, j=1/(f-b), z=(-a*b*g*h)^j,
k=real(p3)+1, l=imag(p3)+100, c=fn1(pixel):
z=k*((a*(z^b))+(d*(z^f)))+c,
|z| < l
}
END FORMULA================================================
START PARAMETER FILE=======================================
Writhing_Discord { ; time=0:04:12.22 on a p233, SF5
reset=2000 type=formula formulafile=critical.frm
formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=ident passes=1
center-mag=-4.758712652981907/+0.0103072515121435/16\
72274/1/-9.999 params=0.1/-0.1/10/10/45/0 float=y
maxiter=1600 bailout=25 inside=0
logmap=84 symmetry=xaxis periodicity=10
colors=000dGYcAXeHZgH`<8>ssr<13>b3q<7>QH9PI4LL8<5>2a\
S<7>2M42L14N2<8>M`6<10>bH_dFbeEdfDf<7>g5v<10>FSP<3>f\
Yq<5>fTkY6u<14>8zX<2>LpYPmYSlYUjZYgZadZKk7ClIMmLWgSb\
f2<13>eaVeaXfbY<3>gfaSRq<6>d``25s<5>`YamZU<13>elZGmN\
<8>cvYvwemwabwrdwhzwdPwV<4>cwZAwsQwhkwS<3>fwYhwS<3>e\
wYywE<8>gwXTw1<11>dwXMwW<6>YwYWwH<5>bwT
}
END PARAMETER FILE=========================================
START 19.6 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================
Writhing_Discord { ; time=0:04:12.22 on a p233, SF5
reset=2000 type=formula formulafile=critical.frm
formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=ident passes=1
center-mag=-4.758712652981907/+0.0103072515121435/16\
72274/1/-9.999 params=0.1/-0.1/10/10/45/0 float=y
maxiter=1600 bailout=25 inside=0
logmap=84 symmetry=xaxis periodicity=10
colors=000dGYcAXeHZgH`<8>ssr<13>b3q<7>QH9PI4LL8<5>2a\
S<7>2M42L14N2<8>M`6<10>bH_dFbeEdfDf<7>g5v<10>FSP<3>f\
Yq<5>fTkY6u<14>8zX<2>LpYPmYSlYUjZYgZadZKk7ClIMmLWgSb\
f2<13>eaVeaXfbY<3>gfaSRq<6>d``25s<5>`YamZU<13>elZGmN\
<8>cvYvwemwabwrdwhzwdPwV<4>cwZAwsQwhkwS<3>fwYhwS<3>e\
wYywE<8>gwXTw1<11>dwXMwW<6>YwYWwH<5>bwT
}
frm:MandelbrotMix4 {; Jim Muth
a=real(p1), b=imag(p1), d=real(p2), f=imag(p2),
g=1/f, h=1/d, j=1/(f-b), z=(-a*b*g*h)^j,
k=real(p3)+1, l=imag(p3)+100, c=fn1(pixel):
z=k*((a*(z^b))+(d*(z^f)))+c,
|z| < l
}
END 19.6 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================
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