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Incredibly creepy. What if one day we found a fractal that contains a message from God?

867-5309 4y ago
this one's message seems pro-piratical
pavlov 4y ago
It would be like finding the face of Jesus on a piece of toast, or the face of an alien on a satellite image of Martian surface. (Both of which were actual images that gathered some cult following in their time.) Spend enough time applying human interpretation to non-human processes, and something will eventually come up that tickles your senses.
- hgazx 4y ago
  When I was a kid I had a sound editing application (think of something like audacity) and it had a tool to generate white noise. I was deathly afraid of generating white noise and then slowing it down because I thought that I may find hidden messages.
can16358p 4y ago
Generate enough digits of pi and you'll find it. Also check Library of Babel, there are some there too. /s
forinti 4y ago
I play around with fractals a lot and once I fiddled with mandelbrot and found something that resembled a pig running on two legs. I guess it would be called the running pig fractal. This might be a message from god: don't eat pork.
ronald_raygun 4y ago
I think we already found that ;) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhabrot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhabrot
Tao3300 4y ago
"What if one day we found a _____ that contains a message from god?" describes almost any ancient divination method. One of the things that draws us to fractals is that they show us how iteration over simple rules can built complex structures that resemble forms from the natural world. What I'm saying is, asking this question isn't a whole lot different than cutting open the liver of an animal sacrifice and trying to divine the will of the gods from the interior structure. Or cutting the throat of a prisoner of war and reading the splatter. Or watching the flight of birds. It doesn't say much.
jimmygrapes 4y ago
The real question is "how would we know?" To some, the very existence of fractal behavior may be the message itself - the message of infinity.
lproven 4y ago
I suggest you real Carl Sagan's only novel, _Contact_. It's very good and by modern standards it's quite short. As you read it you will discover why it's relevant to your question.

this one's message seems pro-piratical

It would be like finding the face of Jesus on a piece of toast, or the face of an alien on a satellite image of Martian surface. (Both of which were actual images that gathered some cult following in their time.) Spend enough time applying human interpretation to non-human processes, and something will eventually come up that tickles your senses.

hgazx 4y ago
When I was a kid I had a sound editing application (think of something like audacity) and it had a tool to generate white noise. I was deathly afraid of generating white noise and then slowing it down because I thought that I may find hidden messages.

can16358p 4y ago

Generate enough digits of pi and you'll find it. Also check Library of Babel, there are some there too. /s

forinti 4y ago

I play around with fractals a lot and once I fiddled with mandelbrot and found something that resembled a pig running on two legs. I guess it would be called the running pig fractal. This might be a message from god: don't eat pork.

ronald_raygun 4y ago

I think we already found that ;) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhabrot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhabrot

Tao3300 4y ago

"What if one day we found a _____ that contains a message from god?" describes almost any ancient divination method. One of the things that draws us to fractals is that they show us how iteration over simple rules can built complex structures that resemble forms from the natural world. What I'm saying is, asking this question isn't a whole lot different than cutting open the liver of an animal sacrifice and trying to divine the will of the gods from the interior structure. Or cutting the throat of a prisoner of war and reading the splatter. Or watching the flight of birds. It doesn't say much.

jimmygrapes 4y ago

The real question is "how would we know?" To some, the very existence of fractal behavior may be the message itself - the message of infinity.

lproven 4y ago

I suggest you real Carl Sagan's only novel, _Contact_. It's very good and by modern standards it's quite short. As you read it you will discover why it's relevant to your question.