Jim closed his FOTD recently with this:
Until then, take care and maybe the universe was created by a great fractal. (One of these days I'll reveal my beliefs about religion, but today is not the day.)
I look forward to that day, which, knowing what one can know of Jim from his FOTD (and past Philofractal) offerings, will likely come in its own good time, and it will be well thought out. In the meantime, and to encourage Jim, I'd like to share some of the ideas I've been ruminating on for the past 10+ years -- I actually have old Philofractal posts from the late 90's where I'm tossing some of these ideas around with the then-active members of that list. With much encouragement from a friend, I submitted an abstract and was fortunate enough to get to present my ideas at the 2011 ASA (American Scientific Affiliation, http://network.asa3.org) Conference in Naperville, IL. The abstract is below, followed by a link to a video of my presentation. Two quick disclaimers: 1. I am a Christian, though my non-Christian friends tell me I don't fit their stereotype for Christians, which I take as a compliment. The ASA is a Christian organization. My presentation references stories from the Bible (it also references J.R.R. Tolkien and Stephen Jay Gould). If you hold great disdain for Christianity, you may not enjoy the presentation. That said, I strongly believe the ideas being presented may find resonance with ideas from many religions and philosophies... 2. I don't know if this mailing list is an entirely appropriate venue for religious or near-religious discourse... but I assume our moderator will inform us if I'm out of line. The presentation *is* Fractint-related, as all the illustrations of fractals were generated using Fractint. :-) Ok, enough yammering, here you go. Hope you enjoy, and I look forward to your comments. *Title:* The Fractal Nature of the Spiritual Journey -- A Metaphor by Jason Hine *Abstract:* *Concepts such as hope, despair, grace, love, evil, free will and faith are frequent pillars of religious discussion, but these concepts are rarely the subject of scientific thought. And this is rightly so, for science currently lacks a useful frame of reference for these and other metaphysical concepts. Such a frame of reference, if one were found, could help facilitate conversations between scientific and religious viewpoints. A study of the fractal commonly known as the Mandelbrot set suggests that certain kinds of fractals may be useful as a basis for developing a metaphorical frame of reference in which the concepts of hope, despair, etc. are likened to patterns found near the fractal’s edge. This presentation explores this potential frame of reference, starting with an abbreviated overview of the Mandelbrot set’s construction and mathematical characteristics. By taking some of these characteristics as analogous to certain aspects of the spiritual journey, key representations are developed and fashioned into a metaphorical model. Examining this metaphor reveals it as having several surprising strengths as well as severe limitations. I conclude with thoughts on the metaphor’s possible relevance and usefulness to current science-faith discussions, and I suggest ideas for further exploration.* *Presentation (Zipped WMV, 25Mb): *http://asa3.org/ASAradio/ASA2011Hine.zip -- Cheers from Mr. Tumnus! "Here... take my handkerchief." Hoofing it bare-chested since 1974.