Nov. 25, 2006 - 16:19 PST

ALIVE AND KICKING

Beginning to feel somewhat human again and further behind than ever. But such is life. There is an article of interest in the Eugene, Oregon The Register-Guard by Greg Boly of that paper, today. Quoted here in full :

SCIENTISTS STUDYING FRACTAL RECOGNITION

UO researchers explore how and why certain patterns appear to reduce stress

"Imagine working in a windowless building, cut off from the soothing sight of clouds blowing across the sky or leaves rustling in the wind, as another dealine looms. Feeling stressed, you look up at the wall and see a strange but somehow pleasing pattern etched into its surface. You feel better."

"That's the kind of future that University of Oregon physicist Richard Taylor imagines, and now he's working with othr scientists at the UO and other universitites around the world in hopes of realizing it. They're studying patterns know as fractals in an effort to understand why and how certain ones seem to give people a mental boost."

"I think it's very important to understand what makes people feel good," Taylor said, citing the estimated $300 billion that stress-related problems cost the American economy each year. "There's so much stress in the world today."

"First, though, it's important to understand what fractals are. Simply put, they are patterns that repeat themselves at increasing levels of magnification. Think snowflakes."

"Of course, it gets more complicated thans that. It turns out that the mathematical relationships in those obvious kinds of fractals also exist in things that don't have any kind of obvious pattern at all. Think coastlines and tree branches and clouds."

"But somehow our brains seem to recognize these patterns. Taylor said. And certain kinds -- those that fall in the middle range of complexity -- have been shwon through earlier research to have a soothing effect on people."

"Not coincidently, scientists believe, those are the kind of fractal patterns found most often in nature. Enter the UO researchers, who are trying to figure out how our brains process these images and eventually harness nature's fractal patterns for use in the built environment."

"Paul van Donkelaar, a professor in the UO's department of human physiology, is working with Taylor on a project that tracks in the small movements of the eye as a subject looks at a computer-generated fractal pattern. The idea is to get a better idea of how the brain recognizes and assesses the patterns."

"The research has caught the attention of a documentary filmmaker, who was on campus recently to film the project for a show to be broadcast on PBS next year."

"Van Donkelaar said the research is breaking new ground by using such complex images. Until now only the very simple images have been used when looking at eye movement."

"It's definitely a different way of loooking at relationships between visual input and motor output," he said . "The thing in between those two is the brain. What's going on in the brain in all this ? We know it's not just random eye movement."

"The research also has caught the interest of scientists in Sweden and Australia who are part of what is becoming an international effort. Taylor and van Donkelaar hope to establish a joint institute, the Center for Interdiscipinary Research in Complexity, with University of Canterbury in New Zealand."

"At the UO, the research has spread not only to physics and human physiology but also to psychology, where professor Dare Baldwin is working with infants to see if fractal recognition is innate or learned, Taylor said. Ultimately it could involve art and architecture as ways are sought to introduce fractals as ways are sought to introduce fractals in building design."

"To me it is fascinating that you can stare at these things and it does have an impact physiologically," Taylor said. "And it can be quite a profound one."

"And with all that stress in the world, Taylor figures anything that helps people feel better can't help but be a good thing. Think fractal wallpaper."

"If we can take even a small bit out of that $300 billion we spend on stress we're doing everybody a big favor," he said."

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Interesting to me, at Borders last night I bought a book called "Incredible visual illustrations You Won't Believe your eyes !" by Al Seckel full of illusionary illustrations, some from ancient times. Along with that I picked up a book of M. C. Escher's pictures, many of which twist the eyes and mind of the person looking at them. As well I thought of the pictures of mandelas I have seen over the years and things seen that strangely pleased me though I didn't know why, just that they did.

Even after reading the definition of fractals and pictures I have seen using them, I don't really know what they are, but if they are of sound psychological use to humanity, I do hope this line of research brings forth a way of making us happy without being blind servants to those who use fractals.

The last few days have brought news of a missing brother who was later found dead in the water. News that Sunshyn has been in hospital quite ill. Life seems to do its usual, but at times it is hard to take.

Being on the sick list myself, after a rather surreal few days, I am beginning to feel somewhat human tonight, one might say I am ALIVE AND KICKING . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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