Life, the Universe and Fractals

[joew771]

Since I first learned of fractals I have come to believe that they may be the answer to everything. What religious people refer to as god or gods, are actually fractals. What scientifically oriented people refer to as the ToE or theory of everything, will be found utilizing fractals.

Fractals, or more properly, fractal geometry, is a branch of mathematics that deals with equations that produce self similar patterns. For example, this simple step by step fractal pattern...



Where every step involves repeating a certain instruction again and again to the original figure, in this case, putting a triangle in the middle of every side of the figure. You can see that it soon resembles a snowflake. One of the many examples of a fractal equation/pattern replicating a natural phenomenon.

The fractal 'snowflake' is self similar, because everywhere you look, no matter what scale, or magnification, it will look about the same. Which you can see here...



The 2 areas in red look exactly the same, though in different scales. This pattern goes on infinitely, so no matter what magnification you look at, it will still look the same as in the red areas. Smaller and smaller triangles to infinity.

Fractals can explain many things in the natural world, the formation of leaves...



^ the above is a graph of a particular fractal equation

to clouds...



^ another graph

to mountains...



^ and another

to life and it's structure and more...



The top left is an overhead view of the Selenga River delta, the top right is a human kidney, the bottom right is a tree, and at the bottom left is the graph of a simple fractal equation.

Fractals are relatively simple equations that produce massive results.



^ that simple equation produces this infinite, intricate, self replicating graph (which would go on forever, but that would increase the load times of the gif significantly)...



Fractals can be used to explain virtually everything in nature, from the layout of a human's nervous system/brain synapses and circulatory system, to the formation of plants and their leaves



^ cauliflower

to coastlines, to DNA, to crystals, to rivers, to the distribution of matter in the universe into galaxies



and on and on.

I believe that fractal geometry may very well be the 'missing link' in the answer to where all this exsistence came from. I may be a whackjob too. IDK.

I'm just curious if anyone else has any clue what I'm talking about.

Fractals are god (maybe).

And not to be a smug assface, but if anyone with a physics or mathematics background has anything to say that would be cool. I know enough math and physics to pass a few tests and to get crackpot ideas, but not enough to back up my crackpot ideas with any real proof.

[hireshi]

I'm no genius but I'd say you've been smoking socks

[Wildcard]

Fractals can be used to explain virtually everything

Nice read and I do follow you and understand fractals, but what do you mean in this quote? Explain? How?

I get that fractals represent cloning-- and even more that this self-replication is consistent and perhaps even computable, but I don't think it explains anything about the nature of life . . . at least not on its own.

And I hope you are being cheeky when you say that fractals are 'god'

[joew771]

Fractals, I think, are part of the very fabric of existence. They are the 'blueprint' for reality, much like DNA is considered a blueprint of life. Though fractals go much deeper and are a blueprint for DNA itself as well.

For some reason virtually every natural object or process seems to follow a fractal pattern. Air turbulence, organic structures like plants and people, snowflakes, etc., etc.

When a human is first concieved, for example, they will begin to grow, and that growth will follow a fractal pattern, with the various organs and systems growing to fit that pattern, or when lightning strikes, the electricity originates at some point and spreads out in a fractal pattern, and so on.



The above pic is a part of a river, but you can probably see that it also resembles an animal's circulatory system, or nervous system, or bronchial tubes in the lung, or lightning, or a crack in a window, or frost, or tree branches, or any number of other things.

So when I say that fractals can be used to explain virtually everything, or that fractals are god, I am saying that everything in the universe grows and forms according to fractal patterns. From the smallest organism to the largest structures in the universe, the distribution of galaxies.

On the left is bacteria growing in a petri dish and on the right is a galactic cluster



The universe is self similar at all scales, so basically a fractal. Whether the fractal equations are just instructions put in place by some god or gods to form the universe, or are just some sort of remnant of the big bang, or are god themselves, or whatever else, I have no idea.

[SectorVector]

I have been reading a bit daily on fractals, ever since you started this thread. Very interesting and well presented by you.
My first encounter with fractals many years ago led to similar thoughts. There is certainly a sense of divinity when one looks at them.

Math and patterns abound in Nature.
The fractals of Julia set or Mandelbrot set, are if I recall right, obtained by iterating the functions you mentioned.
Different initial values lead to different results (I think). I think I plotted a Julia set on the x-y plane and was so delighted to see the result. It was just a monochrome rendering.

The use of iterations, reminded me of the Newton-Raphson method for finding roots of a polynomial. Sure enough, googling for fractals and Newton Raphson throws up interesting links. Here is one such.
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/newton/

Fractals are just one of the many patterns we see in nature with self-similarity being their theme.
It is nice that we have found mathematical representations of it.

I have with me a book titled 'The Curves of Life' by Theodore Andrea Cook, which discusses many patterns.
It is interesting and wonderful that self-similarity manifests in a Fern leaf and Fibonacci series in a sunflower.
Inspecting the fern leaf's "DNA" would proly give us a clue as to why it is so.

Here is another simple pattern found in Nature.


It turns out to be the orbit of a satellite (like moon) about a planet (Earth) which in turn revolves around the sun.
Many such wonderful patterns are created using the Spirograph. Am sure many of us have used this in our childhood. If one were to take the motion of the solar system around the center of the galaxy I suppose a different pattern would emerge. In Hindu Vedic astrology there is fairly considerable literature on the movement of the solar system about the galactic center. The whole cycle is divided into 4 parts and good times and bad times are associated with these. I think am going off topic here. (Ref 2 in case you are interested)

Here's hoping someone who has worked on fractals would be able to share their thoughts.

There is a simple C program on the site above which draws a fractal on a 80x24 screen.

I notice you do not capitalize the word god for whatever reasons. If god exists I hope he is not in a fractal, because i'd have to keep looking for him endlessly :-)

There is a torrent on TPB by 'rambam1776' tucked away under 'Other -> Other'. Might be of interest.
PBS Nova - Fractals - Hunting the Hidden Dimension
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6175189/P..._Dimension

Ref:
1) http://www.creationresearches.com/cr5_e.shtml - Creation or evolution ?
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqb_UxLrwUI - Science of time in Hinduism