I'm sure it does make either one of those more likely -- but only infinitesimally more likely. The percentage of nearby dangerous active reactions that can't be eaten successfully by an eater2 or eater5 must be 99 point some number of nines percent... so the fact that these things are eaters doesn't really skew the likelihood. And eater2 may have a diagonal axis of symmetry, but it's big enough that that doesn't really help much. If you restrict the search to diagonally symmetric constellations being hit by ... well, there's no such thing as a single diagonally symmetric glider, so you can't even really get started.MathAndCode wrote: ↑October 9th, 2020, 8:56 pmI figured that an Eater 2 would have a decent chance of forming from a two-glider seed for two reasons:I figured that the second reason would also help make an Eater 5 likely.
- It's symmetric.
- It's an eater, which carries two advantages.
- It will still form even if it initially forms with a spark instead of a block for certain sparks.
- If the seed generates an Eater 2 and something else that would destroy most objects, the Eater 2 could still survive. (I think that I saw a synthesis of some fishhook-tie where the fishhook eats something about five generations after being formed.)
It will give you a much more accurate picture of likelihood if you check how often things show up in random soup.