Fractal Math as a Creator’s Code
A creation astronomer finds a code
inscribed by God in fractal geometry
Note: We normally report from the secular media, but this idea from a creation site is so intriguing and unique, we feel our readers will appreciate learning about it.
This peculiar cardioid shape results from a plot of points inside and outside of the Mandelbrot Set. It keeps re-appearing all the way down an infinite series.
Dr Jason Lisle, a creation astronomer with Answers in Genesis, has published a new book about fractals. Answers in Genesis has published a talk Dr Lisle gave explaining the basis of his ideas. In the 22-minute talk, posted on the AiG website, Lisle begins with a little bit of math behind fractals, particularly the Mandelbrot set, and then shows remarkable features of the set and the infinitely-extensive patterns it generates. These features, he reasons, could only have come from the mind of a Creator who understands mathematics. He has embedded number theory (in terms of even and odd numbers and so-called “imaginary numbers”), counting, and even arithmetic addition as ‘codes’ in the resulting patterns.
Lisle has been theorizing about fractals and their implications for at least two years. A video of his talk was shared on YouTube in 2019. Still, the ideas he shares are probably new to many, and now they will be available in book form. The book, Fractals: The Secret Code of Creation, can be pre-ordered from AiG.
Zooming into patterns created out of the mathematics of the Mandelbrot set (a simple algebraic formula) allows one to zoom in and find self-similar patterns continuing to infinity. Each black point, when magnified, is another iteration of the basic cardioid shape.
Creation-Evolution Headlines has mentioned the Mandelbrot Set a couple of times over the years. On 26 December 2008, we invited readers to view a YouTube video of a zoom into a colorful representation of the fractals generated by the set. We pointed out that natural phenomena often imitate geometrical patterns. In fact, fractal methods can more closely approximate irregular features like shorelines than standard geometry can.
On 12 November 2010, we told a “tale of two mavericks” in science. One of them was Benoit Mandelbrot, for whom the famous set was named. He stood alone against the establishment, courageously working outside the mainstream. Against strong resistance and skepticism, Mandelbrot persevered in his pursuit of the truth about nature and science. Recognition did not come till he was 60 years old. Now, the establishment admits that it will require “further generations to grasp the full significance and impact of his insight far beyond the borders of mathematics.” This becomes clear as one watches Jason Lisle explain some of the intricacies that can be found mathematically and visually in fractal geometry.
One frame from “Eye of the Universe” HD fractal zoom created by Maths Town.
In our 2010 post, we included a link to another zoom-in video. The colors are chosen by the computer artist, but the patterns come right out of the math. At each level, patterns both unique and similar continue to emerge theoretically forever. Since 2010, several high-def renderings of Mandelbrot zoom-ins have been posted on YouTube, like “Eye of the Universe” with almost two million views and 23,000 likes, and the two-hour 4K “Trip to Infinity” with 1.6 million views, colored and shaded to look 3-D. The beauty of these artistic creations is mind-blowing; the patterns keep coming as one zooms further in.
One frame from the Mandelbrot zoom-in video by Maths Town, “A Trip to Infinity.” The video zooms in for 2 hours at 4K, 60fps.
One could argue that these videos are works of human art; and they are. The mathematics underpinning the patterns, though, is part of the fabric of the universe. In a sense, the human input is the easy part: choosing the color scheme. The computer’s part, too, though processing-intensive, is also simple. It just keeps calculating points that are inside and outside the set according to the formula Zn2 + C = Z(n+1) . Underneath these operations is a mathematical system of relationships that leads to unexpected and surprising features. Only God could create a system gives rise to diverse applications that are both useful and beautiful.
Other Beautiful Links Between Math and Nature
CEH has also reported on the peculiar nature of the Fibonacci Series Fn = F(n-1) + F(n-1) (for n>2). This series also leads to incredible and beautiful patterns. Some of these patterns are found throughout nature, such as in sunflower heads, dragonfly wings and other phenomena. The Fibonacci Series is also strongly linked to the Golden Ratio that architects find pleasing to the eye. This ratio is also ubiquitous in nature. Visual representations of these facts are beautifully portrayed by Cristobal Vila in his must-see videos Nature By Numbers and his breathtaking masterpiece, Infinite Patterns.
Fractal pattern in Romanesco cauliflower
The mathematical patterns in nature continue to attract scientific research. Just this past week, scientists at CNRS believe they have solved the process that leads to the fractal growth pattern in Romanesco cauliflower. This has been difficult to explain, because the patterns need to emerge from foundational processes going on at the genetic and cellular level, which presumably are oblivious to fractal geometry. The CNRS team published their hypothesis in Science on July 9.
Some might argue that the patterns in these formulas are necessary consequences of numbers. There are other simple formulas, though, that lead nowhere. In Chaos Theory, for instance, an innocent-looking equation leads to unpredictable results. A pattern such as a “strong attractor” may emerge, but it is not beautiful or useful; the next output of the equation is extremely sensitive to initial conditions. This fact argues against the idea that beauty is a necessary consequence of number theory. Indeed, we see chaos in attempts to predict the weather or the path of a hurricane. And yet the geometric beauty in living things and their correspondence to Fibonacci Numbers and to the Mandelbrot Set seem hard to account for in a materialist worldview.
The message in the observations is that we have a Creator who is infinite in knowledge and who loves beauty, variety and order. It is one of many signposts on each soul’s journey toward meaning in life.