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Sieves and Fractal Objects
To Model a Universe
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Copyright: 2009
David S. Ullery
Initial revisions were completed on: 5/20/2009 (see link path)
Another major revision completed by: 9:00 PM PST same day.
[I noticed a major oversight in the “Steps” section. Please forgive the bad editing.
Strange loops provide additional thoughts on the topics and sub-topics.]
Thanks!
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The entire Universe may be represented in software or a mathematical model as a process or set of processes made up of Sieve and Fractal objects with their methods doing the “action” within its own environment. The steps that are shown further down this page, after the overview, outline and provide just a few of the high-level concepts and examples supporting the model. The same model may be applied to a less ambitious simulation or even another program of any type; although the latter is not recommended. -It’s just that it is merely theoretically possible to utilize a Fractal object to create anything, since its (Fractal objects) proper subset, in a field of all possible Fractal object instantiations, is a set of Finite Automata (please see below for a bit more of a discussion on this).
No software techniques, architectural structures or designs are presented here. The concept is presented as a very high-level introduction only. It may be a bit fanciful, but the concepts will evolve if pursued, just like everything else.
Before drilling down too far, we will look for limitations and problems with this model, although few limitations will be looked at early on, and little or no drill-down will occur on the first several revisions of the post, and may never show up until another post is written on this, or someone comments below in great detail or with links provided.
Hopefully, there will be some additional positive, yet critical feedback concerning the model concept.
Finally, I go off onto a political tangent that I chose to leave in the same post as an example of how my mind works. I like doing that. It is a flow of consciousness-type style of writing. Since it is open-source, according to my rules on the Home page, it is justified. It is the nature of posts here.
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Some Notes:
As usual with the blog (as described on the Home page), grammar, syntax, and new ideas may or may not be ‘added in’ – as time permits. Each post on this site is subject to severe mutation or elimination at any time for any reason.
If anything gets in the way of the concepts, then I apologize. Leave a comment, or ask a question, in that case. Am I right nor not?
Just as long as your comment is not obviously automated with a lot of advertisements, or full of words that are meant to stimulate certain emotional centers of the brain, by bypassing the frontal cortex and reasoning centers (f&@# or other such “&#@!” words, if used that way, for example – see work how language is processed in the brain, by Steven Pinker or others on this topic).
Thank you very much for visiting my site!
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Overview
Each Sieve object has one or more methods that do the filtering. A Natural Selection Sieve object, for example, may consist of one or more methods, and may be constructed as a model in a program that could be similar to some of the newer, more advanced genetic program models. An implementation utilizing one or more of these genetic program models may not be correct, but it should serve as an example. It may serve as a spring board to prototype an implementation of a Sieve object as software.
Fractal objects will contain self-referencing methods of various types. Methods of this sort will tend to cause some “self-similar” process(es), sub-process(es) or object creation to occur when invoked. In many cases, a method may have the probability of something less than one (0 >= p < 1) of causing the exact process to repeat itself in exactly the same way as its parent. An instance may simply need to be instantiated to trigger all of its processes.
There would normally be no graphical display required for these object’s methods to handle. Typically, the mathematical values would launch a process or trigger some sort of event that the object is representing.
Here is one example of a potential problem with this model. Ultimately, with a perfect model, a Tree Fractal object should “break off” from a Universe Fractal object. The simulation must equate to about 13.7 billion years (relative to the Earth orbiting the Sun). This is not a real problem.
Simple simulations (and most, if not all simulations) are not concerned with a perfect model. No simulation today is perfect – none produce trees from the cosmos expansion simulations – none that the author is aware of.
The author is self-aware (self-referencing), but not an expert in the field of simulation software writing, and has not done the research at the time of this posting. Perhaps work in this area is already being pursued. No doubt that someone somewhere is thinking similar thoughts, given the idea of Fractals being prevalent in the Universe is not a new idea.
Although I personally recently started thinking more about Sieves (they apply to prime numbers, so see the science fiction stories on this blog for references to prime numbers) and how they apply to the process of Natural Selection and just about everything that we humans do, I would not be surprised to find others have thought of similar ideas.
Forever loops will, no doubt lead to issues if not implemented carefully, and under certain rules. A universe may appear to be long-lived when it is not. It may simply be a bug in the code. A meta-language or carefully selected set of Fractal and Sieve Object Creation rules may need to be constructed to simplify the task of verification at this level and for many other potential hazards presented in dynamic programming.
Each object will contain or be the container for other objects, including other Sieve and Fractal objects. Additional “minor” objects may be introduced and would be dependent on the type of simulation being run, tested, or analyzed. Results would be subject to comparison with the real world scenario being “replicated”.
In some cases, the high-level Fractal object within a software program may behave in a manner similar to the State [Transition] Machine (STM or just State Machine – SM) or Process Flow patterns, – as described in object-oriented programming literature. As it winds around itself, so to speak, moving along in its self-referencing way; the SM Fractal instance may transition and spin off additional objects. Previous states may be logged and transitioned off the host or network so that the memory stack may be kept clean, in cases where the implementation utilizes stack-based recursion under the covers.
Since all programs are essentially Finite State Machines (State Machines – see Turing Machines, Finite Automata , etc. for many more details and to understand the related patterns, mathematics, and overall concept here), and one Fractal object may wind in on itself and act as an STM; all programs may be represented as a Fractal object.
Simple tree-producing fractal algorithms are already widely available on the internet, including a few nice videos (e.g. “tree fractal generator“)
Steps
Zero: Instantiate your Universe simulation. It starts off as a Fractal Object representing the sea of quantum foam. As new universes are instantiated, new rules (methods) may trigger – depending on the rules of that particular bubble. Since one bubble does not interfere with another one, new universes may be booted up at any time.
New hosts may need to be dynamically added into the system or even requested on an “as needed” basis for more ambitious simulations. An entire multi-verse could be generated inside a single, new bubble, as needed too! There is no limit to the model concept other than the real world limitations.
First: In a sea of quantum foam, filter out all (probable) “short-lived” quantum bubbles. Long-living universes (We will refer to each of the individual bubbles in the infinite sea, such as our own familiar universe, with lower-case “u”). Truly short-lived simulation will halt quickly if run. Others may be scanned for high-probability of being short-lived.
Quantum foam may be described as a set of methods or equations that act upon certain Fractal objects – such as those methods in the very highest level “master” Fractal object instance of a model of the entire Universe or a single universe within (such as our own observable universe).
- Please see: Nothingness Probably Never Existed.
- Other universes may exist that are not fractal-like, yet are self-referencing.
Second: Filter out all (probable) non-fractal-like universes. These scenarios must exhibit a reasonable amount of object creation that appears to encourage self-similar replication. Several filters likely apply, as a single filter will be messy to create, and prone to error.
Inside our universe, when each item is added up, we find trillions upon trillions of copies of identical “replicated” quarks, electrons, protons, neutrons, photon, neutrinos, atoms (of each element), molecules (e.g. H2O is among the most common), and so forth. The laws are self-referencing and do not depend on external control or plan.
Decay, even with simple objects like a proton, indicates a statistical fractal-like property exists. That is, the self-referencing repeats with a probability of less than one. Photons convert to electrons and electrons convert to other particles.
We observe layer upon layer of patterns in everyday things. Atoms are built of smaller objects, which in turn, build larger objects. At the Natural Selection Sieve object level, we see a dramatic example of statistical fractal-like properties with DNA gene mutations.
Third: Filter out all universes that will not produce complicated feedback mechanisms on the order of complexity of a root system, and ant hill, or a human brain. This will require dynamic filtering or dynamic programming in some form. Otherwise, it will require too much intelligence be built in from an early version of the code. It would never get written by a team of one or more humans, at least.
With living things such as humans, there networks (brains, immune systems, ants, root systems), cells, cells inside cells (both with their own DNA), another network inside the cell. Humans are a series of tubes within tubes – starting with the big tube with the opening at the mouth, tubes within lungs, smaller tubes branching out, until finally you get down to the little tubes that may allow single cells to travel down.
One may still go further with the tube concept, by traveling inside each cell and noticing tubular structures consisting largely of protein chains and amino acids.
Inside a living organisms Carbon and hydrogen atoms are repeated over and over and over ….
Memes, Genes, cells, ice and diamond crystals all replicate. Essentially, the electrons did too.
Further exploration of this concept will follow…
… It is high-level and a fanciful idea at this point. It may or may not be incorporated into the science fiction stories. Notice however, that Fractals seem to be kind of an important theme within the layers of themes within the related stories and that one idea of this blog is to get parts of it replicated.
… To be continued ….
… Please comment ….
Grammar and Editing corrections or suggestions are appreciated.
Scientific error corrections are appreciated.
This is an open-source Work-in-Progress according to my rules for open-source on my home page.
It is here, because it is the way I represent my open-source thoughts. They are not so easily destroyed this way.
Thanks!
David.
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Here is an interesting link having to do with time:
http://hitxp.wordpress.com/2007/10/13/the-shape-of-time/
Of course, space and time are really spacetime, it is relative, it can bend, and therefore it does have a mathematical shape.
It is self-referencing – at least as far as the operational measurements.
Planets orbit, and repeat.
Clocks tick then tock then repeat.
- Their self-repeating motions are well-described, unambiguously, concisely, and mathematically using trigonometry.
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Conclusion with Opinion
It is good to be alive another day.
It took me 13.7 billion years to get here.
It took you 13.7 billion years to get here.
Many of our parts are made up of hydrogen that has been in our little bubble for 13.7 billion years. Other parts are several billion years old. Still others are faithful copies of parts that evolved millions to billions of years ago.
There are about 6 billion copies of people on this tiny, slightly smashed-in sphere-like rock called earth.
Each of us has a fractal-like self-aware brain.
Each of us processes Memes.
Each meme tries to replicate itself.
Some are better at it than others is all ….
Many of us have or had jobs facilitating Meme replication. Many are in the IT (Information Technology) business. Many are in the Entertainment business. Many are in the Church business too.
Each of us was born with certain inalienable rights. Among those rights are: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Do not tread on me and I will not tread on you.
I will treat you fairly according to the golden rule, until you prove otherwise by not following the same practice of “do unto others” as is consistent with “live and let live.” It is consistent with libertarian ideals.
Charles Manson is an extreme example, with George Bush a close second (actually killed more so am not so sure) of people who do not follow the libertarian creed as roughly translated above. The difference is/was that George Bush and his followers are largely well-intended and not merely only self-diluted and directly evil as is/was Manson (neither has real power now although Manson’s song was recorded and I am sure Bush has at least some tiny influence still in certain factions of the Republican party).
- Bush was utilizing the wrong paradigm – the outdated paradigm of war – to go after criminals. …
The hard-core Democrat party is even more open about not believing in freedom than the Republicans, although both their followers are so diluted that they do not even know or care about the meaning of the words “freedom”, “liberty”, nor the phrase “inalienable rights”. Nearly every single one of them is ultimately in favor of Group Rights and Group Think!
The Republicans Group: Fundamentalist Christians, Defense Contractors, and Corporate Oligarchy members (CEOs, Board of Directors, Senate, and so forth – with their group rights that are better than individual rights – they can pollute, kill people, and much more with different laws applying to them than the common individual. Furthermore, these laws violate individual rights to own their own property – to keep pollution off of it).
The Democrats Group: Lawyers, Bureaucrats, Net Tax Consumers, Unions (fundamentally as a reaction to the Corporate, anti-free market, legal structure), Government School teachers.
Governments were instituted among men to protect these rights …..
Really? I do not believe you!!!!!!!!
Governments were instituted among us to take lives, property and liberty from the less violent and more productive. The net-tax-payer gives to the net-tax-receiver. Either by order of a large mob (called democracy), a single ruler (King, dictator, emperor,)
Mighty sounding words are written down on pieces of paper to get people to go along.
The truth, when it comes to the example of the United States is somewhere between this extreme and the actual statements written down. Some people meant it, some did not, and some saw it as an opportunity to grab power.
All of this does not take away from the reality that all human beings actually do have inalienable rights. What it true, is that authoritarians have always prevented people from practicing them in any really free and meaningful way. If we are not free, then how can the actions we take be meaningful? To be meaningful implies choice and not arbitrary brute force leads one to action.
To write that speech shall not be abridged, and to compare this statement to the reality of our times or any other time in the past, are two different things.
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We write. We act. We push back at our particles. We loop in on ourselves, and by doing so, we loop back on a subset of the Universe as a whole. In theory, our looping does not affect other bubbles.
Our thoughts are stored on atoms, but the substrate does not matter. The patterns are what matter.
We are social and survival prediction machines. The laws of physics cause us, yet our predictions change the results. Even a simple thermostat will change the results. If the room is too cold, then the heat will turn on in our house. We have billions of tiny robots within our minds that do similar jobs as the thermostat. Some have described the modern version of the soul in similar terms.
These robots form networks within networks, employing millions or even billions of neurons, combined with white matter, and the central nervous system. Indeed, the robots are made up of the stuff. They self-modify. It is exactly the kind of thing professors warn you not to do with your programs in certain Computer Science classes.
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