Christina Ciamarra
Self-Organization in Science & Society
Professor Dr. Ron Eglash
27 March 2014
Paper #2
It has become evident in our recent studies that fractals are embedded within African
culture in more ways than one. From architecture, to culturally significant symbols and even to
self-identification, fractals and their concepts have been revealed to be a significant part in these
core designs. In one particular portion of this study, we were able to examine what role
consciousness played in the creation and continual existence of these cultural factors. Speaking
more specifically, the “relation between material designs and mathematical understanding” will
be discussed in comparison to other opinions and perspectives on the matter. I will seek to
answer the question, ‘how does fractal intention drive the creation of African cultural symbols?’
by drawing on segments from African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design.
[Great premise for an essay!]
In order to understand how consciousness plays a part in the creation of culture, the
existence of the unconscious and unintentional fractal creation must be recognized. Recalling the
construction of settlements and the architectural components of culture, urban sprawl is a
subtopic also studied under the light of unintentional or intentional fractals. Michael Batty and
Paul Longley describe the urban sprawl of London at unintentional social, fractal construction.
Comparing this to cities like New York, I reflected on the fact that Manhattan exists almost
purely in blocks or rectangle-shaped pathways. London is much less organized, but a significant
pattern can be recognized if it is observed as a whole. Although the construction of these cities is
marked as unintentional, I argue that there was a certain degree of conscious organization to it. It
cannot be said that Manhattan’s blocks were created with simple and mentally blind
construction. (I regard ‘mentally blind’ as creating without direct conscious thought.) [glad to
see you are thinking through this carefully—its interesting to see how our metaphors like
“the mind’s eye” become models we take literally] Diffusion limited aggression doesn’t have
to imply unconscious thought, in my opinion. Instead of understanding the concept with just
unconscious thought, I propose that there could be two types of this social construction that
describe either situation with conscious thought or unconscious thought.
Figure 1: Google Satellite Capture of London
Figure 2: Google Satellite Capture of Manhattan
In support of the existence of conscious thought within fractal creation, many stories are
written with a precise plot organization. Some examples of these stories were discussed earlier
this semester, but pulling an outside example might reiterate the concept. Gone With the Wind is
a classic novel known and read by many. I suspect that few people annotate the plot of the story
enough to realize its fractal patterns. The story starts off with Scarlett O’Hara living as a young
girl on her parents’ planation named Tara. With the many trials and tribulations that the civil war
brings into her life, Scarlett’s character can be seen to have drastically changed by the end of the
novel. After everything that has happened, she decides to return to Tara and start anew. This
story comes full circle in Scarlett’s perspective, however, her character illustrates a much more
experienced and dynamic one. In a way, we can understand her character to have grown, or in
fractal terminology, scaled up. [I love the recursion concept here – not sure if scaling is the
right metaphor to use – “she has a big heart”—“she gained a broader vision” – “she
become a bigger person” – maybe it does work…. But you don’t need scaling to see the
concept of recursion at work; there are other transformations you can apply.]. On the
other hand, Scarlett’s return to Tara can be seen as another iteration of a pattern. Together, these
to concepts form a rough image of a fractal within the story line simply because the magnitude of
a unit has scaled up and reiterated. This could also be considered to be a nesting fractal, in a
certain light. The point is, I doubt that Margret Mitchell unconsciously wrote the novel’s ending.
I suggest that the plot seemed symmetrical or balanced in a way if Scarlett was to return her
home after a major character change. If this is true, her thought process wasn’t completely
unconscious of the pattern. There is this semi-consciousness that is exhibited in significant
cultural artifacts like these stories. Despite this, I wouldn’t go so far to say that the concepts of
fractal geometry were specifically incorporated in the creation of the stories’ plots. Though, I
would say that there was an intention to create a dynamic and capturing plot by using patterns to
structure it. There is a degree of consciousness in the creation of these stories, but there is little
recognition or acknowledgement for fractal concepts.
This unconscious versus conscious dynamic relates to another social construct as well.
Visual representation is a major portion of personal identification and communication between
others. Cornrows are deeply rooted in traditional African culture, yet modern society knows little
about the origins of this cultural style. However, this conveys an example that exhibits
unconscious thought in fractal construction. “It is possible to misread these examples of
conformal mapping as being the product of artisans who are strongly guided by concrete forms
rather than abstract thought,” (83). It is true that something with similar cultural significance as
settlement structure can be completed with the opposite mindset. In the past, I theorize that
cornrows were created in relation to the amount of hair in the braid. In other words, as the braid
is created it becomes smaller and smaller as the hair on the head grows thinner in certain
directions down the head. Scaling was a byproduct of the actual hairstyle construction, and
possibly the fractal geometry as well. This can be related back to another visual domain: Art
Nouveau.
Figure 3: Art Nouveau Poster, Paris
The image above illustrates how art nouveau battles with intentional fractals. Aimed to mimic
nature, these pieces exhibited many floral and forest representations. Despite the goal of
recreating nature, these pieces (like the one above) struggle to exclude rigid pattern and fractal
concepts. The woman in the Paris poster adorns a circular pattern on the chest of her dress which
is iterated in the background of the picture. Overall, one can pick out two to almost ten
concentric circles within this one image. Another fractal concept displayed in this image is
exhibited by the flowers. There are blossomed flowers on each of the small tree branches, but
when zooming out is becomes evident that each tree is a flower on the branches that are rooted in
the center focal point. Even though the idea behind mimicking nature implies a degree of natural
randomness, this is a self-reference iteration that dabbles with semi-conscious fractal
consideration. I call this semi-conscious fractal consideration for a couple of reasons. There is
the possibility that the creator of the poster had some intent on balance within the image.
Generally, it has been my experience that visuals become popular by the efficiency of their
designs. Something just looks much more harmonious if the colors balance each other out, as
well as the objects in the image. There is a strong balance represented in the art nouveau poster
above, but I believe its fractals were made unintentionally. Therefore, my concluding theory on
this case is that the design was meant to mimic nature while maintaining visual balance. As a
byproduct, fractals became an essential factor. [Seems like there is room for considering an
interplay of conscious and unconscious processes—you let your intuition tell you it is
“unbalanced” but then its up to your conscious mind to decide what strategy to take to
rebalance it. You might enjoy reading Pickerings work for this purpose.]
Consideration for fractal geometry cannot be decided by a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. Throughout the
different kinds of examples mentioned, we have seen how something can have some
consciousness or some unconsciousness. Either way, fractals can be a byproduct of unconscious
thought in certain cases. It can be argued that this may be more common than not, I hesitate to
label these cases as completely one side or the other. There may a certain natural tendency to
lean towards a balanced pattern when trying to create something with little conscious thought.
Relating themselves back to nature itself, fractals can be much embedded into biology. I wonder
if fractals are affiliated with conscious intention due to this fact.
Excellent work! Comments in the text, Grade = A
Works Cited
Art Nouveau. N.d. Paris. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Eglash, Ron. African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design. New Brunswick, NJ:
Rutgers UP, 1999. Print.
"London." Google Maps. N.p.: Google, n.d. N. pag. Print.
"Manhattan." Google Maps. N.p.: Google, n.d. N. pag. Print.