FOTD -- November 15, 2008 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's fractal is definitely neither real nor unreal. It is something halfway in between -- an image of a minibrot in the Z^(2.1)+C Mandeloid. I named it "Broken Branches" when I noticed the breaks in the streams of chaos extending out from the central midget. The rating of a 6 indicates a repetition. I have posted some very similar images in the past. The calculation time of 20 seconds could exceed the speed of light. This would mean that the finished image would appear on the screen several seconds before the <enter> key is struck. I'll not speculate on what would happen if, after the finished image had appeared, the fractalist would decide not to strike the <enter> key that caused the image to appear several seconds before. All this confusion may be avoided by surfing over to the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> and viewing the finished image there. Philosophy alert! On Friday I received an envelope in the mail from a scientific book club, offering a selection of three books, this month about the nature of physical reality. As is obvious, the offering gave my philosophical side a shot of energy. One of the books presents a modified theory of gravity (MOG), which, if true, might explain the mystery of the missing dark mass and energy. If this latest new theory is right, then Einstein's general theory of relativity is lacking, and maybe his status as the premier brain of the 20th century needs to be re-evaluated. As for me, I feel we're getting all of nowhere in explaining things, in fact we're digging an ever-deeper scientific hole. Before we try to explain 'physical reality' we should step back, take a break, and try to find a way to prove that physical reality is actually as objectively real as is conventionally assumed. We can't explain it if we don't know what it is. I, and everyone else as well, have never observed a 'real' world that exists out there independently of the observation. All I have ever observed is an ever-changing series of images formed in my mind by stimulation of my sense organs. To be considered a rational thinker, I know I should believe that these images faithfully reflect a universe that actually exists apart from myself exactly as I experience it through the images. But for some reason, I cannot shake the feeling that this belief is an unproved and perhaps unfounded article of faith. True, if we assume the mental images accurately mirror an outer world, then the scientific method works quite well. But we are still left with all the unexplained things called paranormal or supernatural. These reports keep coming despite the skeptics' denial of the paranormal and their attempts to give the reports a natural explanation. Does this mean I am a believer? Well, I certainly know that there are many reports of strange things, and I doubt that all of them can be fully explained by the gullibility, credulity ignorance or wishful thinking of those who do the reporting. Finally, I am once again left to wonder why the proposed 'theory of everything' totally ignores the conscious intelligences, whatever they are, that are searching for a theory of everything. Low heavy clouds obscured the surrounding hilltops here at Fractal Central on Friday. And the humdrum temperature of 54F 13C did nothing to improve things. The fractal cats don't care about hilltops. Their problem was the lack of afternoon sun in their southwest window. Like the day's fractal, my day was . . . average. The next attempt at greatness will be posted in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and how will we know what's real if our scientific ideas about reality keep changing? Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Broken_Branches { ; time=0:00:20.09-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=slices.frm formulaname=MandelbrotN center-mag=-1.275442910495\ 823/+0.013776353035086/1.01901e+010/1/-105/0 params=2.1/0/0/0/0/0 float=y maxiter=750 inside=0 logmap=55 periodicity=10 mathtolerance=0.05/1 colors=000YGkXEqUJqRMrNRmJVhE`dRf_VkVcoRltWwx_zzWc\ STRKQQHMINJASGEWII_KJbFJfAJi6ClK6qY0xkOToj4rjJtjYv\ jlxjzzizzixzhuzhrzkpzmmzplzrizuhzwfzyezw_ouVesPWqK\ MpFChKNaOYVShOWsQXrRXrVVmZTibReePaiNYmLUpKQiLMbLJW\ MGPMCIN9BN65N3CL6JK8PJBWIDbGGhFIoELuDNnJKgPH`VEU`B\ Nf8Gk5FcAEXEEPIDINCARC3VATc9rlHZhDTbLXXHTXDQXKXV8f\ g9Xaf1Za4YY7YUAYQCYLFXHIXDLXpGHjHJeIL_JNVKPzLRzMTz\ NVgicWa`KUZzCgzGczK_fwGVjMzZSz_TzYUzWUOVVzTVzRWzQW\ zOXz7CzDJzIQtkwjfq`alSXfISaakdNZ`z59LxlzFGzQSh_cad\ aWh_QmYKqWEvU8zT9pUzL`9fVzXWz4Cz9IzENzJSza3zZ9zWFz\ TLzQRzMCzNHzNLzNPzNTzkCz2wz9nzGez1gz7dzCazIZzHqzIm\ zJjzKfzLczM_zv3zp8zjDzdIzZNzTSzm8z_Lzvgzdbz_`zW_zR\ YzrRzzTzzVzzm7zjzzhzzf8zdzzbzz`9zZEzzDztCznBzhAzbp\ zqVzf7zf8zd8zb8za9z_9zYDzxBznAzewzClzHbzLTzPJzTizc\ bzaXz`Rz_LzZFzYbzVYzWUzWQzWLzXHzXDzX8z89zC9zF9zI9z\ L9zO9zR9zUwztnzpfzlYzhZze } frm:MandelbrotN {; Jim Muth b=p1, z=p2, c=p3+pixel: z=z^(b)+c, |z| <= 16 } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================