; Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:14:13 -0500 ; ; To: fractint@mailman.xmission.com ; ; From: Jim Muth ; Reply-To: Fractint and General Fractals Discussion ; ; ; Subject: [Fractint] FOTD 05-02-09 (Venusian Landscape [8]) ; ; Id: <1.5.4.16.20090204231348.2b0773aa@pop.mindspring.com> ; --------- ; ; FOTD -- February 05, 2009 (Rating 8) ; ; Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: ; ; The question of fractal reality sometimes arises to puzzle even ; the most devoted fractal fans, and sooner or later every fractal ; fan asks himself, "Are fractals real?" ; ; To begin, fractals must have some kind of reality. How else ; could we have pictures and animations of them? But it is ; obvious that fractals are not made of material. They appear to ; be more like mathematical abstractions, but abstractions have no ; shape, so how can fractals be abstractions? ; ; Mathematics is basically human thought processes stated in ; symbolic form, so could fractals be made of thought? Thoughts ; are usually considered to be less real than objective material ; objects. This is why we say, "ghosts are not real, they exist ; only in the mind." But sometimes thoughts can become almost ; real. In dreams, for instance, thoughts can appear quite as ; objectively real as any material object. So are fractals made ; of semi-materialised thought? ; ; If fractals are made of thought, we then wonder what thought is ; made of? A materialist would claim that thought is a by-product ; of the brain. So if fractals are made of thought, they are ; therefore created by the neural activity of the brain. But what ; is neural activity? Cognitive specialists tell us that neural ; activity consists mainly of electric and chemical interactions ; between neurons. Now it looks like fractals are made of electro- ; chemical interactions. I could continue by asking what are the ; interactions made of, but an endless regression is now becoming ; apparent. ; ; At the same time, an idealist, such as myself, would tell us ; that with thought we have reached the end of the line. Con- ; scious thought is the ultimate reality, and it is meaningless to ; ask what thought is made of. My conclusion is that fractals are ; made of thought, which can take many forms from total abstrac- ; tion to a rock-solid impression of objective material reality. ; Fractals are quite real, in fact they are as real as thought. ; ; Now let's end the philosophical fractal digression and say a few ; words about today's image. ; ; I named the image "Venusian Landscape" because something about ; it reminds me of the first pictures sent back from the surface ; of Venus. I rated it at an 8 because, unlike the surface of ; that planet, the image has a rather sunny feeling about it. ; ; The parent fractal is a cubic Mandelbrot set surrounded by seven ; spokes inside a circle that makes the set resemble the hub of a ; wheel. Today's image is located some distance to the northeast ; of the cubic Mandeloid. ; ; The calculation time of a zippy 1-1/4 minutes should bring ; happiness to every fractalist. Hard-to-please fractalists may ; find comfort on the FOTD web site at: ; ; ; ; where the finished image is posted for instant viewing. ; ; Lots of sun prevailed here at Fractal Central on Wednesday, ; though a morning low of 16F -9C made for quite a chilly start to ; the day. The high of 28F -2C was a little better. The fractal ; cats thoroughly enjoyed the sun. ; ; With the main computer back and up and running, my day was fair ; enough. The next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours. Until then, ; take care, and is the mind a by-product of the brain or are the ; things we call brains actually sense-produced images in the mind? ; ; ; Jim Muth ; jamth@mindspring.com ; jimmuth@aol.com ; ; ; START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Venusian_Landscape { ; time=0:01:13.55-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basic.frm formulaname=DivideBrot6 logmap=67 periodicity=10 center-mag=+0.9168008632085998/+1.217061671902639/\ 6.61573e+010/1/170.5/0 params=-6/11/0.001/0 float=y maxiter=1500 inside=0 passes=1 mathtolerance=0.05/1 colors=000_ZOkcPssMztJceGcZDcSBUL8UE5U72DzT6SEzi2j\ _1ZR1NI0B90czzRU0351230110nqzWXpOObGGQ88DunAlf8d_7\ XT5OL4GE2871wM6aH4SD3ZU9aOIwIRhCZfCddCjbCpaCubGscK\ qdNodRmeUkfYif`g`biWckQdmLeoGfqDXcANQ7ECJL9UR6dX3P\ eNAnfeFO`JMXNKSQIOUGKYEF`CBdA7g9BZJFQTIHaJIZJIWJJT\ JJQKJNKKKKKHKKFEPO8TX2Xe4`e5de6he7ke8oe9seAveJmVSd\ K_XAXSGUNMRISODYM8cPEmRKwNHsKFoHClEAhB7e85a53ZXSdx\ pjrekmVlgLlbAmY0mRGaLVQFiE9x2IvHRuWVnRZgNbaJeVEWBk\ VAjUAiTAiSAhR9gQ9fQ9eP9dO9dN8cM8bL8aK8`K7`J7_I7ZH7\ YG6XF6XE6WE6VD6UC5TB5SA5S95R84Q84P74O6Uz5UzmUz3Uz2\ UzmUz2Uz3UzmUz4Uz5UzmUz6UzmUz7UzmUz9czzczAczzczBcz\ zczDczzczEczzczFczzczGczzczIczzczzm7zz7zm6zz6zm5zz\ 5zm4zz4zm3zz3zm3zz4zm4zz4zm5zz5zw5zw5zw6zw6zw6zw6z\ w7zw7zw7zw7zw8zw8zw8zw8zw9zw9zw9zwAzwAzwAzwAzwBzwB\ zwBzwBzwCzwCzwCzwCzwDzwDzwDzzDzzEzzEzzEzzEzzDzzDzz\ DzzCzzCzzCzzCzzBzzBzzBzzB } frm:DivideBrot6 { ; Jim Muth z=(0,0), c=pixel, a=real(p1), b=imag(p1)-2, d=real(p2)+0.00000000000000000001, f=imag(p2)+16: z=z^(a)/(z^(-b)+d)+c |z| < f } ; END PARAMETER FILE========================================= ; ; ; ; _______________________________________________ ; Fractint mailing list ; Fractint@mailman.xmission.com ; http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fractint