Notices by Strange Attractor (strangeattractor@refactorcamp.org), page 11

@lauraritchie

I'm not sure that doing an fMRI while playing cello will tell you anything important.

I read a book called How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett
https://lisafeldmanbarrett.com/books/how-emotions-are-made/

The short version is that basically there is no "fingerprint" of emotions that can show up in brain scans or other biomarkers. The brain adapts and can generate similar feelings from different parts of the brain. This is called "degeneracy" in biology.

@snder

Those look like star magnolia flowers to me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_stellata

@BruceJia

The strange attractor isn't just about the individual paths that can be taken from the various starting points. It's about finding the insights, beauty, and mathematical structures when you consider all of the paths together, through time.

@BruceJia

A strange attractor has points that yield unique trajectories, and yet those trajectories do not only go far away. There are things that bring the trajectories closer together as well. That's what makes it an attractor.

Strogatz gives an example of a mathematical function like dough used to make croissants in Chapter 12 of his book. The dough is stretched then folded, many times. The pastry function has a fractal cross-section.

A particular raisin may end up anywhere in the dough.

@BruceJia

A strange attractor has some similarities to divergentism, if you look at it from the point of view of individual paths that diverge.

However the blog post about divergentism talks about individual unique paths leading to getting further and further apart, like the heat death of the universe or something.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe

@BruceJia

By divergentism, you mean something like what's described in this ribbonform post, right? If it's something else, let me know.
https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2015/12/01/can-you-hear-me-now/

@BruceJia

Or for a more accessible introduction, the documentary Colors of Infinity, made by science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h06_pkTHAME

@BruceJia

If you want a deeper dive into it, the most clearly written textbook I'm aware of is:

Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos with Applications to Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Engineering
by Steven Strogatz, a professor at Cornell University

http://www.stevenstrogatz.com/books/nonlinear-dynamics-and-chaos-with-applications-to-physics-biology-chemistry-and-engineering

@BruceJia

My haiku definition of a strange attractor is:

Eavestroughs of chaos
Funneling beauty into
Following strange paths