Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts:

I find the the implications of the scientific view of mankind most interesting.  Scientific investigation has not quite shown but strongly implies that we as individuals are mere accidental biological creatures doomed to eventual self-extermination, who popped into existence through some incredibly unlikely stroke of good fortune, but will soon un-pop back into the nothingness from which we originally popped.  And all this near magic takes place with no meaning behind it.

If we believe this grim outlook, as many do, we are supposed to avoid giving in to the resulting despair by creating our own pseudo-meaning in life, perhaps by passing on to our children the same philosophy of scientific meaninglessness that led to our own despair, and hoping they will be able to find a bright side.

But apparently they are unable to find a bright side.  What could the infatuation of young people with violent games and death symbols be, other than a way of desensitizing themselves to the inescapable approach of the demon of eternal darkness?  The present day culture of death and violence shows how badly this 'suck-up-and-face-it-bravely' response to the scientific view of existence has failed everyone and will continue to fail.

As for religion, this fails even more miserably.  Most religious doctrine is simply too incredible to be taken seriously.

In keeping with the theme of grimness, today's image is a dark one indeed, which I named "Demon of the Dark".  It features two glowering demonic-green eyes glaring from the surrounding darkness, which itself appears to seethe with unimaginable sinister activity.

Actually, the two eyes are two different types of order 3.5 minibrots lying in the positive X-axis area of the (-Z)^(3.5)+C Mandeloid.

The rating of an 8 might be a bit liberal, but the image went along with my mood of the day so well that I might have exaggerated the rating a bit.

Heavy clouds with showers of rain and occasional threats of thunder made Sunday less than ideal for outdoor activities here at Fractal Central.  The fractal cats, perhaps picking up the overall gloomy feeling, spent most of the day sleeping and the rest of the day confronting a stray tomcat who found shelter on the back porch.  I, the fractalist, made the best of things.  FL, the gardener, spent the day working her garden, looking for all the world like a mud-nymph.

The next FOTD, almost certainly a cheerier one, will be posted in 24 hours.  Until then, take care, and when things go wrong, search for the bright side of things.  If there is no bright side to be found, start complaining.

Jim Muth
jamth@mindspring.com


START PARAMETER FILE=======================================

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frm:MandelbrotMiN {; Jim Muth
b=p1, z=p2, c=p3+pixel:
z=(-z)^(b)+c,
|z| <= 16 }

END PARAMETER FILE=========================================