|
Fractal of the Day
by Jim Muth
|
|
Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: The FOTD hiatus has served not only to eliminate the work back-up, but it also has given me a chance to recharge my philosophical batteries, which have been flat for several months. The resulting discussion about the nature of the 'self', which is just a bit inspired, appears in the philofractal version of today's discussion. Today's image lies well-hidden in the fractal that results when 0.75 negative parts of both Z^(-1.1) and Z^(-5.5) are combined and (1/C) is added. The parent fractal consists of a shapeless central ocean filled with small islands, with tiny isolated Mandelbrot sets scattered some distance inland. The most prominent of these M-sets lies some distance west of the central ocean. Today's scene is located in one of several chains of filaments extending from the East Valley of this prominent smaller M-set. I half-evaporated the image by setting the escape radius to a relatively large value of 3100. Interest was then added by rendering the scene with the inside set to 'bof61' and the outside set to 'tdis'. I named the result "Bubbling Fantasia". Such a name sounds intriguing but has little connection to the appearance of the image. The colors are a bit too brilliant, making the rating of an 8 perhaps a bit excessive. The image is still a pleasing one to view however, so the much-above-average rating will remain. The render time of 9-1/2 minutes is within reason for an image that rates an 8. Those who do not render may download the completed GIF image from the FOTD web site at: Between fractals I often think deep thoughts, the deepest of which may be 'what are we?'. Our entire race appears to be vexed by this same question, which has puzzled us since prehistoric times. Despite the near-insurmountable difficulty of finding a rational answer, the question will not go away. "What is this thing?" we ask. "What is this inner personal identity that stays the same through our entire lives, even while the thoughts of our minds and the material of our bodies constantly changes?" We speak so casually of 'my body', but what does the word 'my' refer to? Could we be wispy ghosts possessing, residing in and controlling a machine made of meat, or does the meat of the body itself create the illusion of being inhabited by something beyond its own material? What a sorry situation for an intellectually advanced species to find itself in. Even worse, we appear to be almost afraid of the question, which makes a mockery of our faculty of reason. On the occasions when we do propose answers, those answers are all too often carefully contrived to fit into the world view of the one who proposes them. Many answers to the question of the nature of the 'self' have been proposed over the years, none of which have been altogether satisfactory. At the present time, two contending answers are the religious and the scientific ones, which not surprisingly are in near total disagreement. Religion, based as it is on myth and legend, tells us that the 'self' is some kind of invisible and unchanging non-material substance or energy called a soul, which was created by God. This soul is assumed to reside within the body while the body is alive, and depart when the body dies. Such an unchanging conscious 'soul' would answer the question of what stays the same through the entire course of our lives, but it would still not make clear how self-awareness could be generated by something as remote and ethereal as an undetectable soul. And a non-material soul controlling a material body would apparently violate the law of causality. In addition, no religion has yet produced evidence that such an entity as a separate soul actually exists, and the different religions widely disagree as to what the soul is, how it came to be, and what its fate will be. Science, based as it is on the input of the senses, tells us that the interaction of the brain neurons somehow generates the sense of a separate and enduring conscious 'self', complete with rational thought, emotion, and rich inner worlds. And we might speculate that it is a particular neural pattern that stays the same through our lives. The most convincing evidence for this answer is the fact that physical changes in the brain have been shown to affect the functioning of the conscious mind. This answer at first seems satisfactory, but the neural scientists studying the workings of the brain have so far been unable to satisfactorily bridge the vast gap between objectively interacting neurons and subjective inner experience. Despite claims to the contrary, observing and studying how the brain physically processes the input of the senses does not explain how the ever-changing brain could create an enduring 'self' which is aware of its own existence as well as the sensory input. A third approach, perhaps in honor of Godel, is to consider the question unanswerable by nature, and not waste energy searching for something that, because of its nature, cannot be found and can cause only divisiveness and contention. Since this view doesn't even try to answer the question, it may be ignored by those who actually wish to find answers. There is no rational way consciousness could exist, yet it does exist. Like the possibility of a person going backward in time and preventing himself from being born, the existence of the conscious mind is a paradox. But paradoxes are often signs that a wrong assumption has been made. What could possibly be wrong with searching for the origin of the conscious self in the faith-based worlds of religion or the sensory-observed world of science? This is the real question, and in my opinion it is only by questioning the very nature of these worlds that a hypothetical solution might be found. My next burst of philosophy will appear in the not-too-distant future. In it I will discuss the possibility of wrong assumptions. But the easily offended should take notice, my ideas are bound by neither religion, science, nor common sense. A near perfect day here at Fractal Central on Thursday, with warm sun, low humidity, and a high temperature of 86F 30C, left the fractal cats in one of their best moods ever. No tuna was needed in the evening to keep them happy, but I gave them a small treat anyway. This morning is starting mild, but with light showers. Could the day turn out bad? With the work once again under control, I expect my day to be uneventful. But one can never be sure with two cats and unpredictable customers to contend with. The next FOTD will appear in 24 short hours, or 24 long hours, depending on your sense of time. Until then, take care, and as you watch yourself move through life, keep wondering who or what is doing the watching and who or what is being watched. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com |
START PARAMETER FILE=======================================
Bubbling_Fantasia { ; time=0:09:37.37--SF5 on a P200
reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm
formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip passes=1
center-mag=-1.82869168737630700/-0.247178934218572\
90/3.123788e+011/1/30/0.0221353129476179328
params=-0.75/-1.1/-0.75/-5.5/0/3000 maxiter=1400
float=y inside=bof61 outside=tdis periodicity=10
colors=000z1Mz0Gz0Az06z43zD0zN0zX0zd0ti0nn9fpH`vQT\
z_NzgGzpAzz4zzExtNifYVTfGGdHEdJEcKEcMDcNDaPDaQD`QC\
`QC`QC_QC_QAYQAYSAYSA_TG_VK_VQ_YV_``_ada_cdXcgSakP\
anKapG`tC`w9`z4_z0_z0_z4avAdpGflMigSlcYn_cpVirX`oY\
Sl_Ki_Cf`4ca0`a0Yc0Vd0Tf0Sg0Qi0Pk0Nl0Mn0Kn0JKNd0iz\
0cv0_p4Vl9PfCKaGGYKASP6NT1JX0EX6JXDMXKPXSSX_XXf_Xn\
aXvdXzg`zkczlpv3iz0cz0`v0Yo1Vg6TaAQVENPJKHNJCSG4XD\
0`C0cA0X90Q90K70E71964M46Y49k3Aw3Cz6Hz9NzCTzEYwHct\
KipNonPtlSvnTwnVxnXznYzn_znczngznnzorzowzoxzozzozz\
ozzozzoxznvzlrzlozklziizifzgcwgavf`td_pdYocXncSl_P\
kVMkQJiMGiHDgEAgA7f64f11d00d04c0Aa0E`0K`0Q_0VY0`Y0\
fX0kV0pT0wT0zS1zQ1zQ1zT6xV9rXClYEd`H_aKTcNNdQMcSKa\
TK`VJ`VJ_XHYYHYYYcTngPzlKngX_cgK_t7VzCSzEQzHPzMNxP\
MwSJvXHt_GraEpfDoiAnl9lp7kt6iw4irAlnGniKofQpaVrY`t\
VfvQkwMpxJvz_xfozNnzSnzXnz`nzclzglzllzplztkzxkzzkz\
zkzznwzpnwtfpwYkxQdzHYz9S }
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 PARAMETER FILE=========================================
|
times.
