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: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> and at: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> 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 20.0 PAR-FORMULA 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 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================