|
Fractal of the Day
by Jim Muth
|
|
Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's fractal image is a mass of twisted, broken, zigging and zagging filaments, spiralling down into a Minibrot of the order 2.15. But though the image is totally fragmentary, it holds together somehow into a unit that at a quick glance appears as a single object. The single object might not actually be there as a single unit, but it appears to be, and the illusion of existence rates a slightly-above-average 6. After a modicum of thought, I named the image "Zigging and Zagging". The name is a description of the appearance of the image, no more or no less. It's a fast image, rendering from the parameter file in a little over 2 minutes even on my tired old Pentium-I 200mhz machine. The image can also be seen by going to Paul's web site at: The fractal weather today was normal summer, with partly cloudy skies and a temperature of 86F 30C. The fractal cats, who enjoy summer, approved of the conditions. About a year ago, I wrote a long Philofractal list FOTD discussion about the conflict between science and transcendentalism. The discussion began with a sentence that read something like: "Any person who is capable of serious thought cannot but feel that a great mystery lies hidden beneath the surface of the universe and behind his own life..." One of the more skeptical members of the list (I forget exactly who) took offense at the sentence, feeling that I had declared him incapable of serious thought. But when I wrote the discussion, the intelligence of anyone who might disagree never entered my mind. The sentence was meant to state that IMO the existence of mysteries in the universe is self-evident. I still feel that a great mystery, and perhaps many great mysteries, lie just beyond the range of our senses. The only disagreement I can see is between those who feel that this mystery lies beneath the surface of the natural world, in a transcendental world, and those who feel that the mystery lies in an as-yet-undiscovered part of the natural 'real' world. And then I wonder whether these two undiscovered worlds are in fact merely two different ways of describing the same world. Not wanting to start a war at the time I posted the original discussion, I declined to defend my statement, but I was left wondering why skeptics, materialists, atheists, etal, are so touchy about their beliefs, and why, like certain fundamentalists and New-Agers, they try to over-extend science to prove their beliefs, which are philosophical rather than scientific. Reading skeptical publications as I do, I frequently notice the similarity between skepticism and religious fundamentalism. The attitude of both is that they know they are right, but are under attack by the opposite side, and must therefore defend themselves. In the process they strive to convert as many as possible to their particular belief or non-belief. This attitude is very clearly stated in the July-August, 2001 issue of 'Skeptical Inquirer' magazine, where on page 47 a paragraph reads: "I submit that it is incumbent on us [skeptics] to defend the naturalistic interpretation of reality, a materialistic not a spiritual-paranormal account. We need [scientists] who can sum up what science tells us about the human condition in a universe without purpose or design..." I find the things science tells us about the universe to be the most fascinating things imaginable. But where does science tell us that the universe is without purpose or design? More philosophy next time. At this time the cats would approve of a run in the yard, so until next time, take care, and keep your cool when the heat is on. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com |
START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================
ZiggingAndZagging { ; time=0:02:06.28--SF5 on a P200
reset=2001 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm
formulaname=mandelbrotbc1 function=floor passes=1
center-mag=-1.39819790248369700/-0.419788473585744\
70/2.36408e+007/1/-92.5 params=2.15/0/1/0 float=y
maxiter=2000 inside=0 logmap=48
colors=000TnjYljWhgVedUbbS__RXXQUVORSNOPMLNKIKJFHI\
CFG9CF69E37G6AH9CICFJEHLHJMKMNMOOPQQSTRUVSXXT__Vba\
WecXifYmh_qj`tmawobzq_wnYtkWqhTpeRpcPo`NnYKmXImYGm\
ZDm_Bm`9ma7mb9mcAmdCmeDmfEmgGmhHmiJmjKmkLmmNmoOmqQ\
msRmuSmwUmxVmzXmzYmzZmz`mzbmzdmzfmwhmrimmcmhYmccmd\
cmecmeam7bl8bk8bk8bj8bj9bi9bi9bh9bh9bfAbcBbaCb_DbY\
EbVFbTGbRHbOIbMJbKKbIL_NJYSHWXGJa8UaERfDPkBNpALu8m\
fJnZHibGefE`jDWnBSrANq8ciNid_dhQUmG0hn3hg6ha9hWBjP\
EmJHoDMncRmoQllQkjPjgPieOhbOg`NgYNiWNjTMlRMnOLpMLr\
JKsHKuEJwCJy9Swjhu7fs7dq7co7am7_k7Zi7Xh7Wg7Uf7Si7R\
l7Po7Nr7Mu7Kx7PsrOtoOtlOujNugNudNvbMv_MwXMwVLwSLxP\
LxNKyKKyHKyFJzCJz9NlbMn_MoXMpVLqSLrPLsNKuKKvHKwFJx\
CJy9BxZCyXCyWCyVDyUDyTDySEyQEyPEyOFyNFyMFyLGzJGzIG\
zHHzGHzFHzEIzCIzBIzAJz9Jz8vzGszFqzEnzElzDjzDgzCezC\
czB`zBZzAXzAUz9Sz9Qz8Nz8Lz7_z2Zz3Yz3Xz3Wz3Vz4Uz4Uz\
4Tz47zm7zm7zm7zmDzlIzkOzk
}
frm:MandelbrotBC1 { ; by several Fractint users
e=p1, a=imag(p2)+100
p=real(p2)+PI
q=2*PI*fn1(p/(2*PI))
r=real(p2)-q
Z=C=Pixel:
Z=log(Z)
IF(imag(Z) > r)
Z=Z+flip(2*PI)
ENDIF
Z=exp(e*(Z+flip(q)))+C
|Z| < a }
END 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================
|
times.
