Life Lessons...?

[MathAndCode]

Which concept?

I can't remember for sure, but I think that it was something along the lines of the entire Universe is Brahman, and things like dogs are parts of the Brahman that happen to be dogs at this instant.

[wwei23]

The individual cells on their own turn on and off, without movement. But they can all move together.

[MathAndCode]

The individual cells on their own turn on and off, without movement. But they can all move together.

Likewise, the belief states that the universe does not move, but instead, parts of it change state.

[Challenger007]

The individual cells on their own turn on and off, without movement. But they can all move together.

Likewise, the belief states that the universe does not move, but instead, parts of it change state.

This is a very relative question. Science still has few answers regarding the existence of the Universe, so that we can clearly state what processes occur in it. Humanity has yet to comprehend the mysteries that are hidden in the Cosmos.

[confocaloid]

Conway's Life has also turned out to be a fairly effective Sorting Hat [...]

At the most basic level, I think I understand the "sorting hat" idea. Different people naturally become interested in different aspects of the field/hobby/game.

However, I don't believe this is anything close to a "either-or" classification. There is no division and there are no categories.
Being interested in mathematics of Conway's Life does not prevent one from appreciating efforts of people who assemble things that work. Making small patterns that can be evolved and watched on a screen does not prevent one from appreciating theory and very large constructions.

That was basically what I first thought, when I first stumbled upon this thread two years ago. At the time it seemed to be too obvious to be stated. Now I changed my mind on the "too obvious" part, after seeing how this was not obvious to others.

There is no "sorting hat". Overfocusing on distinctions and highlighting differences may not be a particularly good idea, when everything relies on enthusiasm.

[pcallahan]

However, I don't believe this is anything close to a "either-or" classification.

There are sorting hats and there are sorting hats. Even the sorting in Harry Potter isn't exclusive. For instance, a member of Gryffindor can be smart (Hermione) and a member of Ravenclaw can be brave (Luna). Hufflepuffs aren't necessarily lacking in capabilities. They're just not as competitive about it. Slytherins, well, I suppose there is something good to say. But I digress.

It really comes down to what you care about the most. For instance, one may engineer a CGOL pattern primarily to serve as a component in a constructive proof, caring more about the proof than the pattern. Conversely, you may apply theoretical methods in the process of designing patterns E.g. an understanding of theoretical limits of finite pattern speeds can save you a lot of wasted time.

I am interested in all of it, but I am definitely most interested in seeing new things constructed, and at a small enough scale to appreciate. Conway's original proof of self-replication was interesting, but fundamentality unsatisfying to me (as I mentioned a few years ago), first because I don't trust my own brain well enough to follow it and rule out potential gotchas, but also because it's just not the same if you can't see it running.

Others who are more mathematically inclined may only be mildly interested in the real constructions, e.g. as fun to watch, but beside the point. I see the mathematical analysis as secondary to finding patterns.

[tommyaweosme]

i am a "rule generator". i generate random int rules every once in a while for people to explore. i am also a "catalyst generator".

[confocaloid]

Related discussion: viewtopic.php?p=22140#p22140

It might be because people often don't want things handed to them. [...]

[otismo]

I had been waiting for Roberts to make another post, but he already wrote his NYT article.

I wanted him to see "state-of-the-art" CGoL if/when he shows up.

Entity Valkyrie 2 applied his massive engineering prowess and came up with a miniaturized P154 Loafer Gun.

This effort was matched by Tawal who tricked out the memory and then went on to develop his excellent Loafer BitMap Printer Script.

With dvgrn watching over it all, it could only come out perfect. Now anyone who wants a Loafer BitMap Printer can have one.

I thought everyone would be making them and posting new patterns. But not noteworthy so that is one reason.

But then it occurred to me that the membership is largely unaware of these achievements.

So I wanted to post a "state-of-the-art" Pattern as an illustration.

I like LOGOs especially Coca-Cola.

But that would not be a good "fit" with this Community. Confocaloid's SineWave is the best and so I wanted to post that.

[confocaloid]

The "LV" tags are unnecessary here, and posting the large pattern is also unnecessary.

SineWave

Instead of posting the big RLE, it would be much better to link to the original discussion, which makes it clear that this is not really my contribution. I merely used a script written by someone else.
viewtopic.php?p=189362#p189362

[otismo]

The main lesson of all CA is a massive tutorial in Reverse Engineering.