; Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 10:31:40 -0500 ; From: Jim Muth ; Subject: [Fractint] FOTD 28-11-02 (Vision of the Unknown [4]) ; Id: <1.5.4.16.20021128103348.29cfac4e@pop.mindspring.com> ; --------- ; FOTD -- November 28, 2002 (Rating 4) ; ; Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: ; ; Today's image takes us into the unknown. Do I believe in the ; unknown? Of course I do. It would be folly to claim that we ; know everything there is to know, just as it would be equally ; foolish to claim that we have already found every fractal that ; might possibly exist. But there are different varieties of the ; unknown, and some are more reputable than others. ; ; Our civilization is currently obsessed with the scientific way ; of discovering truth, a method that depends on rational thought ; and empirical testing. With a few exceptions, this method does ; not admit the existence of unknown things beyond the range of ; the senses and their instrumental extensions unless a math can ; be found that makes predictions which have a chance of being ; experimentally verified. In the world of science, if a thing ; such as the existence of ghosts cannot possibly be disproved, ; it cannot be taken seriously. This does not mean that it does ; not exist; it merely means that it is beyond the range of scien- ; tific investigation. Before science can consider something to ; be 'the unknown', some rational evidence is needed that the ; thing exists in the first place. Undiscovered things such as ; 'dark matter' are said to be 'unknown' because they have not ; yet been found and there is evidence that they do exist. ; ; At the same time, there are those people who rational thinkers ; consider credulous and gullible, because they are not limited by ; the need to conform to the doctrine of scientific correctness. ; These 'free-thinkers' consider those who follow the scientific ; way to be narrow-minded. They don't need evidence, since they ; have already decided that what they believe is true. In their ; world, things beyond the range of the senses are a part of ; everyday life. The position of the planets at the time of birth ; indicates a person's potential. When people die, they don't ; cease to consciously exist, but merely become invisible spirits. ; Such beliefs bring comfort, but this type of 'the unknown' is ; scientifically disreputable because there is neither evidence ; that it might be true nor a logical need for it to exist. ; ; I am on the undecided fence in all of this, constantly shifting ; back and forth, but slowly drifting toward the scientifically ; disreputable side. I am certainly not on the fence when it ; comes to fractals however. ; ; Today's fractal is of the reputable variety. I have named it ; "Vision of the Unknown". The name is a bit misleading, for ; actually the scene is very well known. Despite its puzzling ; appearance, it is nothing less that our old friend, the one and ; only "Seahorse Valley", seen from a new angle which I call the ; Oblate orientation. I introduce it at this time because I will ; make December the month of the fourth dimension, featuring new ; and unusual slices of the Z^2+C Julibrot and much discussion of ; the curiosities that exist in four-dimensional hyperspace. ; ; I could rate the image no higher than a 4, since among serious ; fractalists the scene is already well known. It has only the ; coloring to set it apart from what has gone before. Perhaps its ; best feature however is its sizzling render time of 55 seconds ; from the attached parameter file. ; ; The pre-rendered image is available on the W.W.Web at: ; ; ; ; and at: ; ; ; ; The weather was cloudy and blustery here at Fractal Central on ; Wednesday. With the wind making so much noise, the dynamic cats ; ventured out of doors for only a few minutes. The chilly temper- ; ature of 39F 4C helped not a bit. A treat of tuna was necessary ; to keep the duo in good temperament. ; ; Today is starting even colder, but the sun is bright and the ; wind has died down. In addition, there will be lots of Thanks- ; giving Day turkey by late this afternoon. All this considered, ; the fractal cats should have a better day. If I survive the ; feasting, I'll return in 24 hours with the next FOTD. Until ; then, take care, and if you eat too much turkey and gain a few ; pounds, sue the turkey farmers for your weight problem. ; ; ; Jim Muth ; jamth@mindspring.com ; jimmuth@aol.com ; ; ; START PARAMETER FILE================================ VisionOfTheUnknown { ; time=0:00:55.20--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=multirot-XY-ZW-new function=ident/flip passes=1 center-mag=-6.66134e-016/2.91434e-016/0.9\ 50534/1/-30/-1.23373533611470521e-014 params=0/90/\ 2/0/0/0/-0.75/0 float=y maxiter=25000 inside=0 logmap=yes periodicity=10 colors=03003N03N03N03N03N13N23N43N63N83N93NB3ND3NG\ 3NJ3NN3NQ3NT3VX3W_3eb3lf3ti3zzx1zs2zp2zm2zi4zf4ta4\ qZ6pV6nU6lS8kQ8iN8gL9fK9fI9dG9bFBaBB_ABY8DX6DX4DV3\ ET3ER3EQ3GO3GN3GwK0tI1sG1qG1qF2pF2nD2nD4lB4kB4kA6i\ A6g86g88f68d68d48b39a39_39_3BY3BX3BX3DV3DT3DT3ER3E\ Q3EQ3GO3GN3GTXTgXdzn0zi0zf0zc0x`0tV0qS0nP0kL1gG2dD\ 4aA8Y69V3BR3DO3EJ3iL3gL3fL3fL3dL3dL3bL3aL3aL3_L3_L\ 3YL3YL3XL3VL3VN3TN3TN3RN3QN3QN3ON3ON3NN3NN3LN3JN3J\ N3IN3IN3Gzwixsgwrftnfsmdqibphbpeanc_l`_kZYiVXgUXfQ\ VfPVdNTbKRaIR_FQYDOXAOX8NV4LT3LR3JQ3IO3IN3GVDYTBXT\ AVT8VR6TR6RR4RQ3QQ3OQ3OQ3NO3LO3LO3JN3IN3IN3GTXTOUz\ NSzNQzNPzNNxNNwNLtNKsNIqNGpNGlNFkNDiNBgNAfNAdN8bN6\ aN4_N3YN3VN3TN3RN3QN3ON3NN3LN3JN3I4zk6zi6wg8sf8pd9\ nd9kbBhaBe_Ba_D`YDXXEUVEQVGNTGLRIIQIFQIBOJ8NJ6LL3L\ L3JN3IN3Gz3zz3zz3zz3zz3zx3xw3wt3ss3qp3pn3ll3kk3ii3\ gg3df3bd3ab3Y_3X632634834 } frm:multirot-XY-ZW-new {; draws 6 planes and rotations ;when fn1-2=i,f, then p1 0,0=M, 0,90=O, 90,0=E, 90,90=J ;when fn1-2=f,i, then p1 0,0=M, 0,90=R, 90,0=P, 90,90=J a=real(p1)*.01745329251994, b=imag(p1)*.01745329251994, z=sin(b)*fn1(real(pixel))+sin(a)*fn2(imag(pixel))+p3, c=cos(b)*real(pixel)+cos(a)*flip(imag(pixel))+p4: z=z^(p2)+c, |z| <= 36 } ; END PARAMETER FILE================================== ; ;