Something I enjoy doing each day is thinking and contemplating reality. I have no qualifications in physiology or any major field of scientific research but I do have an advanced diploma in computer science as a programmer but even so, I do consider myself a scientist / theoretical physicist. All my perceptions and understandings of reality are self derived from my own perceptions and thoughts over the period of my life time. I strive for accuracy and refinement and I love learning new things and thinking about things I already know but in different ways, an introvert with a curious mind.
I went for a walk outside today and looked at the garden; I find beauty beyond just flowers, I see it in everything: the leaves, the structure of the plant or tree itself. I look up at the clouds, then back down to a stream of water and see a similar beauty. This innate yet subtle structure that many seem to overlook, the same structure that governs the way my brain forms a neural net, the way my veins grow to deliver blood to the rest of my body. Even in entropic systems where weathering effects the formations of the planets, all you need is a satellite with a camera or even a microscope and you'll see the same pattern of blood veins that I see in my arm. In all underlining systems that makes our universe form and yet derived from an elegantly simple iteration algorithm also known as a fractal.
Some people seem to want to find and preserve symmetry like an obsessive-compulsive disorder but usually just in a conventional way; like side by side in a mirror, but there's so much more to it than that. Circular symmetries exists like the splash of a rain drop as well as the notion of self-similarity where regardless of the position on a fractal, you'll see a similar pattern from your former position. Even if something doesn't appear symmetric, all you need to do is look a little closer or further away to find it.
As I was walking passed the spearmint I noticed it was starting to bloom. Normally a spearmint would be splitting leaves at 90 degree intervals; hence its iterative fractal structure but what intrigued me was the fact that the plant had changed the rule-set that founded that fractal in order to start growing flower buds. I'm not familiar with any articles on the subject but I'm sure there's one out there derived from the plants biological processors that result in this change but I was interested in how such biology and chemical reactions changed the fractal structure itself. I took some pictures so others could see the stages the plant was going through; each one at a different phase and some still making leaves, some making flowers as well as those in between.
(Edit) I'm now aware from a recent scientific article that plants / trees use molecular patterns that specify how different cells will stretch when a leaf grows which results in all the different leaf patterns, I'm guessing that all aspects of plant growth would derive from this pattern mechanism to facilitate the growth of stems and flowers too. Pretty amazing.
People say that science destroys the mystery which some people crave but that couldn't be further from the truth; Sci-Fi is one of the best mediums to date that spurs our imaginations and makes us think "there's so much more to discover, learn and to see what's possible" the so called thinking outside the box and that exact notion is why science is so wondrously exciting. The evidence is overwhelming as each and every day, new and wondrous things are being discovered, improved and devised that can help a huge number if not all institutions including our very lives and deepen our appreciation. New cures for cancers, better ways to make electricity; devices that can save Africa from poverty. I couldn't think of a more honest system than science, yes there's people who are dishonest who lie and make up fake science for money but real science doesn't lie, it will never let you down, it will always admit when it was wrong and seek out the answers. People imply that because of such scientific views that others like myself can't appreciate or understand what beauty is like they "apparently" can, lacking the aesthetics so to speak. I beg to differ; they fail to understand that not only can I see this beauty they speak of, but I can understand it in more ways than they could possibly imagine: thanks to science. To know why a flower is the colour you see, why the stem is green or red and why it smells so pleasing. Knowing these attributes of the flower feels like my appreciation and the beauty I see is amplified 10 fold. Science isn't cold or black and white, it's the reason you have colour TV, the reason you live a life at least 4 times that of your great great ancestors by creating life saving cures and not to mention the moments when medical scientists aka doctors and nurses spend over 15+ hours in a hospital operation room just to stabilize one person's life, the reason why I can see with my glasses and why I can fix something when it breaks, making my life and others around me so much better as a result. These people with such shallow perceptions might take science for granted but I am honoured and privileged to have science as a tool that I can wield to make this world a better place, to truly understand its beauty and to know implicitly why life and this earth I stand on is so precious.
The next time you want to be thankful for something, try thanking science and don't just wait for a "Special" day to do it either; for each day in your life is just as precious as the next.
Thank you for your time,
Ashton.
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