When I inside and outside my “self”, I see one thing: fractals. Fractals explain to me the microcosm and the macrocosm that our cells, bodies, societies, galaxies, and possibly universes and beyond, are a part of.
Have you seen the “Power of Ten” clip? This is a MUST. It zooms out at the power of 10 every second out to the edge of our universe and then zooms into through to the quantum quark inside your hand. Out of every youtube clip I’ve ever posted on this blog, this is my favourite:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0[/youtube]
Compare this adventure in our universe to the Mandelbrot Fractal Adventure I last week and tell me what you think … are we fractals?
This is one more clip worth watching that explores this question:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE2EiI-UfsE[/youtube]
Fractal patterns seem to surround us as far out into the universe and as deep into our cells as far as our technology allows us to see.
From relationships within cells to between cells, within people to between people, within societies to between societies, within nations to between nations, within our planet, solar system, galaxy, universe – there are clear patterns: patterns of complexity and nothingness, of ones and zeros, of peace and conflict, patterns of a dance between polar opposites that are two sides to one coin.
In bridging finite (area) with infinite (perimeter), does the fractal pattern provide a metaphor of how what seems impossible, actually be possible? What implications might this have for philosophical discussions about good and evil, determinism vs in-determinism, individualism vs in-separateness?
Is what some people call “God”, a personification of the fractal?
Is it just me or is the idea of fractals an incredible way to think about the connection between our cells, our universe, and our “selves”!!!
Image taken from http://bidhanr.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/fractals/
Hi, I just thought of something similar, but I thought of it the other way around, instead of God as the personification of fractals, what if fractals is the personification of God?
I mean, looking at a fractal itself, no matter how much you zoom in or out, there’s no end, there will always be something branching of it,
so what if the timeline of the universe is a fractal and its just a part of something that has been “there”,
I mean where does a fractal begin? is there a beginning or end?
Is that why they say God didn’t begin, and he just exist?
I might be stretching this a bit, but please reply I know this was posted a year ago, but yea
Great thoughts, thanks for commenting! Nice to know others are thinking about this stuff 🙂 I agree – although I’d use the word expression of God rather than personification. The “personification” thing is more referring to the way we refer to God as if “He/She” is a person (which we don’t do with fractals). I don’t think God is a fractal per say, but that a fractal is a more mathematical way that helps us imagine what can’t really be imagined. I kinda like the personification of abstract – it makes it easier to feel connected. There is no end or a beginning to a fractal, which is why like you say, it helps us imagine a entity (let’s call it “God”) that didn’t begin, “He” just exists. Not stretching it at all. Please write more if you have more thoughts – I love this kind of conversation.
Hi!
I’m not the only one! One day about three years ago, I was laying on the floor with some very calming mellow Christian instrumental music on and trying something new. It was just to lay there for one hour without moving trying not to force my thinking. I prayed beforehand that God would direct my thoughts. I was not used to meditation but I can’t even begin to explain the visions of what I saw. First I saw a body. All the different parts of it. I saw each organ and how they function together. Then I saw the skin cells and each one and the nucleus etc. Then suddenly it zoomed in greatly to one cell. It was a universe! Each part of it was a planet…meaning that each cell on that entire body was a universe. As I looked closer at the planet I saw many bodies and even myself. Then I saw the first greater body lift his hand containing the cell of my universe to his face and peered at it. As he lifted his hand, my universe shifted and there was war, but when he looked at it with spotlight eyes, he smiled, and we were calm… I realized this was God and that not only were we part of him but there were many many other parts. Too many to ever understand… There was much more to the vision but I am currently typing on an iPhone and my thumb is tired.
I just have to say that I was most amazed when last year I came across fractals. I had planted many sunflowers and were amazed with the seed arrangement as they grew so I questioned it on the Internet and came across fractals. Pineapples, the way a furn uncurls, seashells, sunflowers, lightening… And now I decided to google god and fractals because I know there is a reason that this math is embedded in all of nature… It’s a signature… And god loves math as much as me. 🙂 it’s too amazing to understand what he has always been up to.
As far as fractals standing as a way to show that with god all things are possible, I have to agree with you highly! You’ve heard people mention the power of mind or be careful what you wish for. I see that what we believe creates the world around us. Anything is possible and it changes everything. Look at the effect stress has on the physical composition of our bodies. Imagine what channeling those thoughts into prayer and belief will do! You must watch the documentary “What The Bleep Do We Know?” it is the scientific proof that the impossible is possible. There is one part that goes into detail about how our minds can actually change the molecular pattern in water! Imagine what our minds can do to ourselves? Each other? It’s beautiful. At one point in time we were only 7 people away from others far distances away… I love to think about the ripple effect we have. Just smile. Just for the heck of it. At someone you don’t even know. 😉
Karli Cannata
I have had love for this post in 2012. Since then, my mind has expanded tremendously and my beliefs have opened up enormously. I still love this.
-Motewolonisq
Not to be fractionally picky: koch -> kock cock -> is infinitely annoying!!!
It was a joke, seemingly not that funny 😉 sorry
I’m glad to see this, in response:
Look at evolution, cells existed individually until they unified into a single, larger single life form. These existed individually and now we are starting to unify again as humans. Societal structures are reminiscent of organs in a body. There is a pattern here, one unity to many to one again. An image within an image. Every time the unity occurs the one unity is more greatly expressed. This IS a fractal. Imagine as we all unify again what we will create? This process seems to extend infinitely and merge with the higher life. So, the earth is like an embryo of a larger being in a way. Fractals describe this perfectly. The fractal is like tau, “the way” “the path” or “the ladder to heaven” in a way. I think god is the one, the single entity that fractures and reunifies again and again larger and larger… It means we are all god, made of god, and parts of god. Alpha, omega, and Iota. The biggest, smallest, and middle / the one. Just thoughts for friends 🙂
Well said!!! Thank you
Right on, great work. So cool to read other people’s interpretations of the fractals, which arent very far off from my own. Ive been pondering them for quite a while now, and even started pondering them before i knew what they were.
I believe that as humans grow and experience their own subjective lives, we are learning and expanding in a fractal way, our relationships are fractal, the way cultures interact, coexist, and destroy one another is fractal.
I haven’t quite pieced together how to word it, you may say that “Fractals are a manifestation of God.” You may say that “What we call God is a mere anthropomorphized misunderstanding of the fractal intelligence in our reality.” For years believers have suppressed scientific advancements in our understanding, but now we begin to have a discovery in which the two may coexist, a mystical yet scientific fractal nature within EVERYTHING.
When i am working in my garden, and i move a shovel of dirt from one area to another, i see worms and little creatures in that universe of a shovel of dirt, along with countless microbes in the soil, and think to myself, “to them, i am a god, they will be talking about me and this event for years to come. They will write books, tell stories, and pass down beliefs as to how they should live based on what they think about me. But i am just a man, im just higher up in the fractal than they are.” And this is how i see God.
Prophets seem to have pointed towards fractals for as long as we have been writing. Our arts reflect our awareness of their existence, but our objective knowledge could only stretch so far, and our language could only plunge so deep.
Ive been quite faithful in the idea that if you were to continue zooming out much like in that powers of ten video, that everything, all of the galaxies and such would come together so closely. As you continued to zoom out, you would finally be able to see the body of god, and we are simply a particle in his hand.
This is a relief.. that other people in the world are having revelations similar to my own. I was beginning to think i was deviating. But, this understanding may be a part of an evolution or advancement that is naturally occuring.
Well done. I have recently come up with the same conclusion,glad to see i am not the only one…. but i have taken it a few steps further.
Contact me.
There is a new dawn coming. Humanity will jump to the next step of evolution.
It is very rare to see people think like you have. I would really like to find out more about you.
Best Regards
Panos
I have been thinking of this concept myself. If we are to assume that God is infinite (Depending on whether he exists) in many different ways, I think it would make sense that he/she is a fractal. Fractals are endless. God is endless. The universe is endless and so on.
I think there is proof that God is indeed a fractal. (I’m taking biblical references here because that’s what I’m most familiar with.) According to the bible, we were made in his image. If you look at the human body you’ll see that the arms, legs and head are all branches of the torso. Those branched also have branches which are the fingers. There are similar patterns in nature as well. In this way maybe all like of earth and the universe could be made in his image. We are all tiny finite fractals.
My second piece of evidence is the symbols that the bible uses for God as well as many specific stories that are told. In Exodus Moses is addressed by a flaming bush. The bush has a series of branching branches and so is a fractal. The flame as well because it can be split up and continuously split for all eternity as long as it had enough fuel to stay lit. The story of Pentecost has flames splitting and falling above each apostle. Even Jesus himself when feeding the multitudes split the fish and loaves of bread thousands of times.
There are probably more biblical references to fractal-like behavior in both the bible and other religious texts but I just can’t think of any. I’ve been up all night and am too tired. I do like this post though. It’s very interesting and seems like it could be likely or at least possible.
I would agree that the process we think of as “God” is Fractal in Origin. As some scientists say, though I might add, it is not mainstream, everything is “Consciousness”. This “Thought-Division” is the process that brings about everything we see. So in short, everything is consciousness following a Pattern that already exists, that being the Self of all things. So God is not just that which is not seen, but also that which is. There is only one thing, and that Source is Replicating its own Self—it is part of the Garden of Eden terminology. We are part of the thing we seek. This is Scriptural, though, I have to admit, it is not necessarily an easy read—but who said it would be.
I am pleased to see that you consider such things though. We must remember however, that without the Son, you cannot see the Father, so we should not forget the basic tenants of the New Testament. Nor should we underestimate the problem set before us.
A further point: If you have a hologram on a card, apparently (I have not witnessed this) the hologram, as one would think, jumps up out of the card when the light hits it the right way. The interesting part is this: if you cut up the card into pieces, each piece shows exactly the same image as before! That is the Nature of God.
Hi all.
I thought I was going crazy, then I see there are loons like me 🙂
I had few expiriences in recent past that I wouldn’t talk about here now, but those led me to a conlusion I’d like to present here (sorry, english is not my native language so if I’ll have mistakes I appologise in advance).
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”
Sherlock Holmes
“Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.”
Albert Einstein
When we combine these two statements, that we find logical, we should (I have) come to a conclusion that infinity IS real.
I find big bang theory only a fragment of a larger, well INFINITE, picture:
Our universe is part of infinite fractal, we are part of it, and the smallest particle we’re made of are another endless universes. We are “God” to countless, infinite universes.
Now, there’s another theory that I find interesting – that is – we’re just a computer simulation.
That would explain “mistery and magic”, scientifically unexplained phenomenon – this simulation either have bugs, or it’s being hacked.
Now, let’s think about this:
Look at all the text I had to write to tell you an idea that went through my mind the speed of light. How slow the process of sharing thought is.
If we were more advanced, using technology, or simply evolving, we could share thoughts without words and so much more efficient.
What if the programmer of this system actually is a memeber of advanced species? What if there were others working with him, all mind-melted.
Wouldn’t that explain the mystery of “Holy trinity” – Father, Son, Holy spirit, that are separate, but one.
Are we just a game on a borg ship?
Our scientist are driven by a question “how” in a world of action and reaction – finding reason for everything, until Big Bang where they don’t have any idea “how” and put Singularity into NOTHINGNESS….
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
Revelation 22:13
Everything that has a beginning, has an end, so only possible explanation, no matter how improbable, is – there is Infinity, it is a fractal, that is in everything around us, in us.
So, God is in us, we are God.
“He” created us in his image…
I don’t know if we’re limited simulation, or “real”, I don’t have math knowledge to proove anything I’m saying, all I have is my logic, and only logical is –
There was no beginning, there’s no end, only unimaginable ethernity, ininity with infinite infinities in it.
And one of that infinity is YOU.
Now, there’s a shocking idea I concluded after all this:
we’re just a biological machine, working on a mathematical principles.. I came to this idea after I researched things about mass control, brain washing and hypnosis:
it is possible to put human brain, let’s put it in a programmers perspective, into “service mode” by “crashing it” in kernel mode, and not leting it reboot
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RjqV85YYsk ).
If we can manipulate humans brain and change his/her behaviour, then there is no “soul”.
On the other hand, since energy cannot be created or destroyed, when we die – we actually don’t “vanish” – we’re there – forever – ETHERNAL and INFINITE!
And do you know what’s great about this theory:
noone can’t dissapprove it – noone has “evidence” that I’m actually NOT right.
There’s an interesting visualisation at the end of MiB movie, and when I think of it now, and when thinking about my theory, it all makes sense:
Edwards: Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it.
Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.
——
Kay: We’re gonna check the hot sheets.
[Kay pulls up to a newsstand and buys a pile of supermarket tabloids]
Jay: THESE are the hot sheets?
Kay: Best investigative reporting on the planet. But go ahead, read the New York Times if you want. They get lucky sometimes.
—
At the end, we see zoom-out of USA, Earth, our Galaxy,
and at the end we realize it’s just a marble in alien’s hand…
Think about it under the spotlight of my previous post..
Do MiB writers KNOW?
Or, they’re just biological machines that act according
to fractal imprint – reflecting their own nature?
I like this theory – it can explain ANY conspiracy theory.
Only problem is, how to live with this tought –
we’re infinitly small and at the same time infinitly large,
depending on the perspective.
Thanks Tomy, well put!
I think that living with this realisation might help us see that we can, as a species, change our present suicidal trajectory and evolve our world toward a vision of harmony with Earth and peace with each other… well, maybe. I’m trying to argue this in my masters thesis… You might be interested in Thomas Berry’s thoughts on “The New Story” and Alan Watts’ “The Nature of Consciousness” – speaking about life as a “cosmic drama”… and if you are interested in theology “panentheism” might be helpful too…
Thanks again 🙂 Juliet
Great facts! The human body is truly amazing. To me, it’s initserteng that a baby has 300 bones and the number of cells dying in one day is pretty intriguing. I also like the hair fact.
Wow..tht was amazing…
hi looking for mental stimulation. About fractals pattern of life ect’ We I mean reality is a paradigm with an illusion. its easy to believe what you see but at a closer glance there is something that doesnt cleanly fit. infinity. but it has its hold in this paradigm just as up and down and yesterday and tommorrow. our obervance doesnt belong in this reality we are invaders from another dimension that our observance is not part of this paradigm, that is why infinity is hear its the undefinable that our presence of observance has introduced that completed this bizarre reality. taking the quantum belief that we the observer control the outcome of an object . this means infinty is like the foot print that man has made by observing.what are we doing in this dimension I dont know
I independently came to the same conclusion that comparing god a fractal is one of the best ways to say it simple. Just right now. Having internet at my disposal I wondered if anybody else had come to the same conclusion. And it was nice to find, oh yes people did. So I gladly like to say, independently, yes…you guys are right :). There also, by the way, practical implications to that.
Mostly because some fields of thinking dislike the use of the word god. And refer to the idea a bit differently. For easiness sake…….let me say it a bit like this. The collection of everything….is a fractal. How deep down or up in the fractal we are…..tja…that is hard to say. And the darn thing is that we all look at the same fractal from a different point, so we don’t even see the same picture :P.
Oh, I meant, god is LIKE a fractal. Since I am not sure how a fractal is calculated. The effect is the same, whether the formula is I don’t know for certain. I was very young when my cousin played with fractals.
You are right about fractals, But these things are not described in words but in numbers. Fractal is arithnetic geometry astronomy and music,
We need to better understand the Pythagorean theory and its modern application
which is the theory of everything
Αs the great philosopher (and not only) Plato said. God creates everything using numbers
he dislikes the words and especially the extensive texts
Fractals are sequencies of numbers disposing a specifique code (a kind of Da Vinci code )
You dont have to be a mathematician to understand
i can help you if you like
I have been pondering the nature of God and the universe for a few years now. Specifically the origins. It occurred to me that in the beginning the universe was a single thing with no dimension. From this singularity sprang another and at that point the 1st dimension sprang into existence. Then for unknown reasons another thing sprang into existence creating a new 2nd dimension. And then it happened again creating a 3rd dimension…much like the trinity…the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.
That which we call God is simply that beginning with no dimension. From it all things were created, so all things created carry its essence. We are, essentially God’s offspring, and it follows that God is indeed everywhere and every thing.
As the scientific community explores the nature of the universe, looking for a simple unified theory to tie together the quantum reality with general relativity, to tie together gravity and electromagnetism, they will eventually find themselves back at this beginning, this thing with no dimension from which all else sprang….for within it lay the groundwork for everything that followed.
To understand its nature is to understand the universe. So what do we know about it? Well, we know it “desired” to be more…to proliferate…to expand and we know it had the capability. Without it we would not have a 2nd and 3 rd dimension. We also know that everything that followed in fact carried its essence…to be more….to expand…to proliferate. Fast forward untold years and we have the vast universe around us. As complicated as the universe may seem, it is simply the evolution of that which started it all. Mankind has manifested this original essence within us all to the concept of religion, or a single, original “being” from which all else followed. Now mankind, in its limited wisdom a couple thousand years ago needed a way to explain this concept which was present in everyone. The concept of God, therefore, did not spring from nothing. The concept has existed in us, and in fact everything else in the universe since the beginning. It just didn’t manifest itself in an articulate manner until such time in the evolution of life that a life form had the intelligence and sentience to postulate such things. God is not just a part of us. We are the evolution of a God. And therefore, every single particle in the universe, every single force in the universe, and every single relationship in the universe can trace its lineage back to that beginning.
God, then, truly is everything, everywhere, throughout all time.
Now as far as fractals…. They are the same in function. They are a beginning essence, a singular mathematical nature which compels them to grow and to proliferate into something complex and beautiful. They are timeless. They are eternal. And at any point in time they manifest the essence of that which created them.
So again what is this essence of That original one dimensional God? Well, since this essence manifests in everything, what can we observe in everything? Consider Fibonacci…a simple, single essence that proliferates into beautiful, complex patterns that can be found throughout the universe…from the spiralling shell of the nautilus, to the spiralling beauty of the seeds of a sunflower, to the spiralling of galaxies like our Milky Way.
The Fibonacci sequence, much like the one dimensional origins of everything starts simply and expands into the magnificent: 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144. Now God, the “0” in the sequence, the origin, could have just been content to be the one and only. Buy He did not. His nature was to proliferate. So He created another. This “other”, carrying this essence, also proliferated, and so on and so on. So is growth the essence of the universe, and if so, what compels this. Well, to be the one and only seems like a lonely existence. Perhaps the nature of the universe is companionship which drives evolution from the simple to the complex.