[Prose Essay] Fractal Geometry Speculations

Let me first talk about the relationship between fractal geometry and biology, with a simple example: pick any tree and take a close look at a branch. You'll notice that the sub-branches resemble the whole tree. Some of the proportions and positions of the sub-branches are even the same as those of the tree itself. If you then measure the sub-branches of the sub-branches, you'll find it's the same. If you directly measure the petioles and veins of the leaves, they also follow the same proportional pattern as the tree's branches. It's all differentiated according to a fixed kind of pattern. Now, regarding animals: humans have five fingers, which are actually a miniaturization of the five main branches of the human trunk—two arms, two legs, and the head; birds' claws are similar, with the head, two feet, and tail. And the wings are usually folded, while the tail becomes a visible mapping at the end of the limb because the folded wings are less important for balance than the tail. This is called self-similarity. I remember a few years ago, there was a circulated video about dissecting an alien, and the first time I watched it I immediately knew it was fake. Did you notice? The alien being dissected in the video had four fingers. That's wrong because the alien in the video, like us, would belong to a muscular biological organism and thus have four limbs and a head, but the limb-end mapping was missing one; if that were real, it could only be explained as: the dissected alien just happened to be a disabled alien… In fact, fractal geometry is everywhere. Pick any grain of sand and look closely under a microscope; the grain's bumps essentially miniaturize mountains; the edges of snowflakes miniaturize the entire crystalline structure of the snowflake. It has now been confirmed that the structure inside atoms is the same as that of the universe. No matter the scale, it is a fractal structure endlessly divided in a similar pattern. Back then, I was researching just this; it was a bit crazy at the time—I gathered all sorts of materials such as nerve and blood vessel branches, skeletal structures, cellular structures, the golden ratio of sea shells, and in the end I almost went insane. I felt it was an unbreakable pattern, but I didn't understand why. Could it be that the world we perceive as irregular is actually following some kind of rule? So I began searching for reasons in religion and philosophy, combing through all sorts of religious texts, even secret sects. But I felt that nothing really gave a satisfactory explanation; it was all merely seemingly plausible metaphors and hints, with no clear answer. Then I went mad, schizophrenic.Because that period was too obsessive, my mind was filled with that question all day. I felt that there was a force beyond human understanding quietly driving the entire world, or rather, creating the whole world. Humans are noble, but they exist within the same pattern as flowers, trees, animals, and insects. This realization caused me extreme frustration with myself and humanity. One day, I found a chicken and carefully measured its claws and wings, but the result was still the same. Yet when I tired and stood up, I noticed another version of myself still squatting there measuring—it was a hallucination. Since then, I often saw versions of myself in various places measuring different things. After measuring, they would approach me with a grave expression and ask, ‘Why is it all the same?' At that time, it didn't feel scary, just overwhelming. I wondered: Is there really a God, a Buddha? Is their ruler only just one? How can everything be the same? I was not just confused; my professional work is biology. From the beginning, I could always see various pieces of evidence proving humans are unique, excellent, and sacred. But when I applied fractal geometry to biology, many potential issues were magnified. For example, our brains have certainly evolved, but the pattern remains unchanged: brainstem, cerebellum, cerebrum. Although the volume is different, the fractal proportion of human brain neurons is no different from that of a fish. Why hasn't this aspect evolved? Could it be that it was perfectly evolved at the start? But that's impossible. At that time, I constantly saw countless versions of myself, measuring seriously among crowds, on streets, everywhere. I took my child to the zoo and saw ‘myself' inside the lion cage measuring. I shouted in fear, ‘Danger!' The result is foreseeable… Eventually, countless versions of me passed through walls and doors, ran in through windows, and said to me: ‘Why is it all the same?' I covered my ears and curled up in a corner, but those versions ran into my mind and shouted those words at me. At that moment, it felt like my entire head was buzzing.Those voices grew louder and more numerous...\...\Suddenly one day, all my manifestations disappeared, and all the voices were gone. I knew I had found...\...\Qianbeizuiqi the Beggar: Some phenomena, if they cannot be explained by any known disciplines or knowledge, then for the remaining explanations, no matter how absurd or bizarre they seem on the surface, we must learn to respect them. Because that very well might be the real answer. But the process of verification must be cautious and meticulous; one cannot be whimsical.\Horses can run very fast, fish can swim very deep, birds can fly very high. These are their characteristics. Why is that? Horses run fast, but they do not go around asking themselves why they run fast; fish swim deep, but they do not search for answers on why they swim deep; birds can soar in the sky, but they do not question why they can fly so high. I am human, I cannot run so fast, nor swim so deep, nor fly so high, but I can seek and pursue the 'why.' In fact, this is what makes humans different—it is the human heart.\Respect life. The nobility of life may not be important, but at least respect your own existence. While you are still alive, while you still exist, carry that human heart and never stop pursuing that answer. Whether there is an answer or not, you must be full of expectation and hope.\There is no need to suffer or be anxious over the answer, because humans are like this: with a heart full of curiosity, expectation, hope, and relentless pursuit!\【He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.】\【Once I was blind, but now I see.】