Registered: Feb 2004
Posts: 172

I propose that CA's (sticking to just 1D CA for now)- no matter what the rules - are simply a collection of sinks and sources. It was interesting for me to look at rule 30 and try to understand what is happening from "left to right / right to left" as opposed to "top to bottom." I look at each row in the progression as simply show me what happened as a result of all the sinks and sources doing their thing. Doing what? Producing or consuming and the interaction thereof. I think, depending on the rules, that the sinks and sources have the capability to be born or to die.... or to simply dissappear and reappear in another cell.... or to dissappear for good / appear from nowhere (depending on your interpretation). I think there is also the possibility that these sinks and sources interfere with each other (depending on the rules) and therefore can cause "stalemate sink / source interaction" as possibly seen in the case where a rule forces, for example, straight lines going down (either on cells or off cells) throughout the history of the pattern.

The discussion on mechanical gravity (as posted in this forum) prompted my proposed interpretation.

Side note: maybe computation can be done when you combine sinks with sources which are turning on and off, etc. - noting that the interaction or interference between the two is what makes things interesting: the edge of production or the edge of consumption.

This all "feels" similar to binary systems but with an irregularly "continuous" element: source or sink. I say "irregularly continuous" because the sinks/sources will be 'continous' but do not have a 'lifetime' guarantee.

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Last edited by Philip Ronald Dutton on 03-04-2004 at 04:56 AM

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