Fractals as a better way to explain synchronicity?

Brian, really stunningly beautiful stuff man.  Thanks for posting!

Thank you.  I might start a Weebly gallery to display some of my work one day soon.

I remember that there was talk of using fractals as a superior form of image compression, but I don't think anything came of it, so I am wondering how you use fractals in your work (if that doesn't compromise your anonymity).

Does anyone believe fractals explain synchronicity - I don't.

There is a third-party Photoshop plugin called genuine fractals that allows greater enlargements without any visual distortion.  I tried a demo once and it was quite amazing. 

My Mandelbulb 3D work doesn't usually require anything outside of the software except occasionally a little post processing.  My other work is multimedia and I might use, for example, a Julia set or a Mandelbrot edge zoom as an overlay effect in my more psychedelic work.  My strange place fractal that was used in Tim's write up on Orbit Trap was a Julia with some kind of filter (can't remember which, maybe x-ray stalks) that was imported into Gimp, greyscaled then used as a height map in Bryce's symmetrical lattice, then landscaped using Bryce's own tools.

Synchronicity is a tricky one because meaning seems to be a brain function.  The problem, though, is that synchronicities are often not easily explained purely by personal interpretation.  The link in the OP seemed a bit vague on information but it has inspired my curiosity and I want to look further into this.

[Laird]

Just a little post to add to what others have already said: really nice and impressive stuff, Brian. Thanks for sharing. It's got soul and depth.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication...l_Practice

Considered the “geometry of nature” since its inception, nonlinear fractal models, methods, and metaphors reach beyond reductionism, Cartesian dualism, and traditional linear notions of causality to accommodate porous, interpenetrating boundaries between inner and outer domains as well as self-similar relational patterns.

https://www.metasysteme-coaching.eu/engl...-coaching/

In effect, such correlated incidents seem to simultaneously occur in time, sometimes at a great distance, as if related to or communicating with each other at lighting speed or at twice the speed of light, which is as close as we can get to simultaneity.

As a possible explanation for synchronicity, the quantum worldview hypothesizes that we could well be living in a form of fractal or holographic universe.

• In this reality, similar or entwined patterns are simultaneously repeated or echoed across our perceptions of time and space, either on equivalent levels, or between infinitely small and much larger, much more complex system levels. 
  
• In this world view, one’s close observation or knowledge of particular patterns in any system can offer precise indications of what is simultaneously occurring in other correlated but apparently distant equal, larger of smaller, apparently disconnected systems.
  

Since we are on the subject of fractals, I think it is worth remembering how we all felt in the 1980's (or was it 90's) when fractals took the world by storm. At the time I was far more materialistic than I am now, and I just 'knew' that fractals would provide a way for matter to behave much more like mind.

Even the simplest fractals - such as the Mandelbrot and Julia sets - contain amazing amounts of (almost) repetitive details that suggest there are creatures (or at least plants) waiting to emerge from an infinite mathematical landscape. The "game of life" construction is similar in that it quite a zoo of forms exist - again suggesting that some sort of digital life might really 'exist'. Another type of fractal was generated by iterated transformations (IFS) that generates images of ferns and trees.

Of course, to plunge deeply into one of these fractals requires arbitrary precision arithmetic which slows things down a very great deal.

I guess by now I think their relation to mind and psi is probably peripheral - but I'd like to know other people's views on this.

I intend to plough through the website that Brian posted (above) - at the very least the images. I think my favourite image was the tree house. Some of the others seemed too contrived for my tastes (but I am definitely not known for my good artistic taste).

I notice there is a brisk discussion as to whether fractal art is art.

What I think now, is that fractal images are obviously nice for certain types of art, but maybe not much else????

In effect, such correlated incidents seem to simultaneously occur in time, sometimes at a great distance, as if related to or communicating with each other at lighting speed or at twice the speed of light, which is as close as we can get to simultaneity.

As a possible explanation for synchronicity, the quantum worldview hypothesizes that we could well be living in a form of fractal or holographic universe.

That may sound vaguely plausible until you think of some famous examples of synchronicity. For example one that Jung reported:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blo...oincidence

I fail to see how that could relate to QM or he idea of holographic universe - there is too much of the human mind and messy biology involved in that example - and probably most other examples.

There are two topics here: fractals and synchronicity.

Though the article in the opening post attempts to link the two, I have to say that for myself, though I'm fascinated by each of these topics, I'm not able to discern any connection.

Part of the problem is understanding the terminology. Synchronicity originates with Jung, though I'm sure what it attempts to describe existed before he came along. Meaningful coincidence is a sort of alternative term. But none of these words mean much unless we can relate them to something in the real world, possibly in our own lives.

The problem I have with the proposed linking of the ideas is that fractals seem inherently repetitive, things may vary and shift over time or distance but there is a predictability about it. Synchronicity, to me at least, is often a one-off occurrence. I've had things happen, no examples which I'm willing to share come to mind right now, but things which happened just once. There is also some connection with consciousness, possibly with either ourselves or some external force manipulating things so that everything just drops neatly into place at the appointed time. Since I started noticing meaningful coincidences they've become so much a part of the way the world works, some sort of creative power of the mind or of wider consciousness seems to be something which I take for granted.

I don't have any of those thoughts in mind when I consider fractals. I don't feel the unexpected influence of consciousness suddenly throwing up surprises in fractals.

I appreciated seeing Brian's fractal artwork, it is impressive.

I've recently been revisiting that familiar old ground of the Mandelbrot set. Inspired by a replacement of ageing computer hardware, I revived some decades-old computer code and tried it again, with some tweaks and modifications. Modern processor hardware is highly-optimised for certain built-in types of arithmetic, and for the time being I've confined myself to the limited precision available in order to utilise the gains in performance. I'll add that though cost is always a limiting factor, one of the main aims of my hardware upgrade was reduced noise. That means something which does not generate huge amounts of heat and require noisy cooling fans. Though I should not be surprised, a workable compromise between low noise and reasonable performance is possible nowadays in a way which was not available years ago.

My images are strictly 2-D, but it is the generation of video sequences which has been my main activity recently. Some of the images make me think of organic life, whether leafy plants or creatures of the ocean. A single image for now:

   

[Laird]

A single image for now

Nice! Makes me think kind of inadvertently of a mosquito's dagger, although I really don't think that mosquitos are fractal in any meaningful way like that, including their daggers!

Nice! Makes me think kind of inadvertently of a mosquito's dagger, although I really don't think that mosquitos are fractal in any meaningful way like that, including their daggers!

Yes, I think we can see various things in images like this. An earlier version of that one had me thinking of something translucent, like stained-glass or a leaf catching the sunlight from behind.

(The image I uploaded was a bit larger but I think it was automatically resized.)