A very important question

For general discussion about Conway's Game of Life.
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3r0rXx
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Joined: June 19th, 2015, 2:59 pm

A very important question

Post by 3r0rXx » June 19th, 2015, 3:04 pm

Hey folk!
I am very interested in Conway's game of life..

I have a question since 2 weeks; I hope you can answer me:

Was a pattern like the meta pixel (http://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/OTCA_metapixel) created by someone, or found randomly?!

I mean, it is possible to create a random map, that contains this metapixel?
How did 'Brice Due' found this?!


I thank you in advance;
3r0rXx

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simsim314
Posts: 1823
Joined: February 10th, 2014, 1:27 pm

Re: A very important question

Post by simsim314 » June 19th, 2015, 3:17 pm

3r0rXx wrote:How did 'Brice Due' found this?!
It's not a finding it's very complex construction. You don't play randomly with GOL and find something like this, you combine known components together (which usually found by some search utility), into pretty complex mechanism.
3r0rXx wrote:I mean, it is possible to create a random map, that contains this metapixel?
No. Maybe after something like 10^10^10^10000 years of random search you might get metapixel. I don't know what you call "random map", but it's really doesn't matter - there is nothing random about metapixel, as there is nothing random about Intel processor.

3r0rXx
Posts: 2
Joined: June 19th, 2015, 2:59 pm

Re: A very important question

Post by 3r0rXx » June 19th, 2015, 3:23 pm

Hahahahah thank you..
But why does the conwaywiki calls these patterns a discovery?
Should it not called 'designed'?

And what's about the 'gosper's glider gun' or about the http://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/274P6H1V0 -pattern?

I am sorry for these question but it's pretty interesting how these patterns got found.

I thank you in advance;
3r0rXx

Post scriptum:
Find the search utilities a pattern in a random map?

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simsim314
Posts: 1823
Joined: February 10th, 2014, 1:27 pm

Re: A very important question

Post by simsim314 » June 19th, 2015, 3:38 pm

3r0rXx wrote:why does the conwaywiki calls these patterns a discovery?
It's called discovery just as standard terminology for all patterns. In the wiki text itself it's called construction:

The OTCA metapixel...was constructed by Brice Due.
3r0rXx wrote:what's about the 'gosper's glider gun'
Queen bee was found in random soup definitely. No one constructed it. But placing the block to stabilize it, and as glider gun concerned placing two Queen bee shuttles next to each other to stabilize each other and produce a gun, it's definitely a construction - or at least found by search utility that artificially placed those two together (so design as well).

But this kind of design is not "high level design" like in case of metapixel or gemini, it's more search utility design. You search inside a large space of basic components something you're interested in.
3r0rXx wrote:or about the http://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/274P6H1V0 -pattern?
It was found by search utility like gfind or WinLifeSearch.
3r0rXx wrote:Find the search utilities a pattern in a random map?
I didn't understand your question. If you're asking what was found by search utility that came out of random soups, check out this thread: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1630

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