; Date: Sun, 18 May 2008 22:54:44 -0400 ; ; To: fractint@mailman.xmission.com ; cc: philofractal@lists.fractalus.com ; ; From: Jim Muth ; Reply-To: Fractint and General Fractals Discussion ; ; ; Subject: [Fractint] FOTD 19-05-08 (A Nothing Fractal [1]) ; ; Id: <1.5.4.16.20080518225747.2c078f4c@pop.mindspring.com> ; --------- ; ; FOTD -- May 19, 2008 (Rating 1) ; ; Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: ; ; Warning: I'm in a strange mood today, so have fun. ; ; Since today's fractal image is nothing to write home about, or ; to write about anywhere else for that matter, I might as well ; start the discussion by broaching the topic of the nature of ; the mind and reality. Only a fool would claim it is foolish to ; waste time discussing the nature of reality, a problem which can ; never be solved. At the same time, only a fool would actually ; waste his time writing about it. Since I must be a fool, I will ; discuss the problem. But expect no solution. ; ; One thing I think is certain is that my awareness exists, though ; sometimes I doubt even this. I never ask myself where my ; awareness goes when I go to sleep. Only a fool would do so. ; But for countless days it has been there to greet me when I wake ; up in the morning, unchanged from the evening before. ; ; I am not foolish enough to wonder what it is that stays the same ; while the material of my brain as well as my thoughts constantly ; change, but it might be a soul, whatever that is. Oops, I just ; forgot that souls are supposed to be a by-product of the body, ; so this is no answer either. ; ; Let's make an assumption -- whatever my self-aware mind is, it ; does indeed exist, and it is somehow miraculously generated by ; the electro-chemical interactions of the neurons in my brain. ; If this is so, the question now becomes how unconscious matter ; can create self-awareness. I have read over a dozen books about ; this miracle, but I am no closer to grasping what is going on in ; my brain than I am to grasping what is going on in the quantum ; realm. But one thing for certain is that speculation among the ; cognitive scientists is currently rampant. One of the most ; recent theories is that I am a strange loop, whatever a strange ; loop is. ; ; I rather enjoy being a strange loop. It's rather like being a ; fractal, and if I am a fractal, then everything else must also ; be one. The universe is a big fractal, with God doing the ; iterating. (I assume He uses Fractint.) Oops, I forgot that ; God is supposed to be only a feel-good superstition. ; ; I have no idea where I'm going with this, so I guess it's time ; to turn to the fractal. As for that fractal, it's a disgrace. ; It's the first FOTD ever to rate a humiliating 1. And it ; doesn't even deserve its 1. It actually deserves a zero. ; ; The image lies in the parent fractal created by the formula ; Z^(1.618)+C when it is calculated at ground level of the log ; ladder with no function applied. ; ; I named the image "A Nothing Fractal", which is exactly what it ; is. ; ; At least the calculation time is a mercifully brief 41 seconds. ; And the finished image is posted on the FOTD web site at: ; ; ; ; Morning rain here at Fractal Central on Sunday was followed by ; early afternoon sun and late afternoon rain squalls, while the ; temperature hung around a very chilly 61F 16C. The fractal cats ; noticed the rain, but were more interested in the pigeons ; scrounging for sustenance on the sidewalk. ; ; For me the day was busier than I would have preferred, but not ; as busy as I might have feared. The next FOTD will be along, if ; I feel like doing one, in 24 hours or so. Until then, take ; care, and if nothing is really real, are illusions real? ; ; ; Jim Muth ; jamth@mindspring.com ; jimmuth@aol.com ; ; ; START PARAMETER FILE======================================= A_Nothing_Fractal { ; time=0:00:41.47-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotBC3 function=ident passes=1 center-mag=-0.567480167420823/-0.8351769720835365/\ 159.2013/1/-105/0 params=1.618/0/0/0 float=y maxiter=3600 inside=0 logmap=37 periodicity=10 colors=000w_`vZ_uYZtWYsVXqUWpSVnRTmQSlPRjNQiMPgLNf\ JMdILcHKbGJdEGfCDhBAj97l84gE6bJ8YNATRCOVEJZFKXILXL\ LXNMXQNXTNYVOZYO__P_bQ`eQ`gR`jS`mS`oT`rT`tHei6j_5q\ N4xB6wF8wI9vMBvPCuSEuWFtZHtbIseKshLrlNroOrrQsqRsqT\ tqUtqWuqXupZvp_vpavpbwpdwoexogxohyojyokyoYmlKai6Qg\ 8Rh9ShAShBThDThEUhFUhGVhIWhJWhKXhLXhNYhOYhPZhQZhbv\ kbul03z46v89rCCnGFjKIfOLbSOZWRV_URcXNg_JkbFoeBrg7m\ j9imAeoBdlGciKbgPadT`bX`_a_YeZViYTnXQrXOvVNsTMpRLm\ PKjNJgLIeJHbHG_FFXDEUBDS9CP7BM5AJ39G19E87CF6BL5ALW\ TLukNpjPliQhhScgT_fVWeXRdYNc_Jb`EabA`c6`gDekKioRnr\ YroWomVmjUjhZhecfchc`maZrZWvXUzVRzUOzTLzSIzRFzQCzP\ 9zOAzkEzjIzjMziPziTzhXzh`zhczggzgzzfzzfzzfzzczzazz\ _zzYzzWzzUzzSzzQzzPzzNzzMzzLzzJzzIzzGzzFzzEzzCzzBz\ zAzz9zz8zzAzzCzzDzzFzzHzzIzzKzzLzzNzzPzzQzzSzzUvzV\ rzXmzYhz_czaazb`zd_zfZzgYziYzjXziXzhXzgXzfXzeXzdXz\ cXzbXzaXz`Xz_XzZXzZWzXWzV } frm:MandelbrotBC3 { ; by several Fractint users e=p1, a=imag(p2)+100 p=real(p2)+PI q=2*PI*fn1(p/(2*PI)) r=real(p2)+PI-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|