ULTIMATE COMPUTING - Quantum Consciousness Studies

Toward Ultimate Computing 29
will be born in a subsequent generation if it has exactly three living neighbors (or
“parents”). Conway’s game was named “Life” because the cells could be either
dead or alive, however the behavior of the patterns of “living” cells included
some “life-like” behaviors. These included movement through the grid and
oscillatory patterns which came to be called blinkers, beacons, gliders, and
beehives. Repeating von Neumann, though in a much simpler format, Dewdney
(1985) showed that a computer could exist within the game of Life.
Figure 1.12: Cellular automaton model in microtubules (Chapter 8) reaches
stable state in which opposite states are aligned along long axis of MT, and like
states aligned along rows. A “kink-like” pattern is seen moving through the
structure. By Paul Jablonka.
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Carter Bays has extended the game of “Life” to three dimensions (Dewdney,
1987). In his version, each cell is a cube with 26 neighbors, but the neighbor rules
are essentially the same as in Conway’s two-dimensional “Life.” A variety of
interesting behaviors ensue in Bay’s “Life,” dependent on initial patterns. For
example he observed a 10 cube “glider” traveling through space like a “sofa in
free fall.” Another 7 cube form (a “greeter”) dies unless it is in the presence of
another structure. Gliders which pass near greeters are grabbed and held until
rescued by a second glider which collides with the repressive greeter. Other stable
patterns emerge which Bays has called arcades, stairs, helices, and space-time
barriers. Life and other cellular automata have enraptured computer buffs who can
now create their own realms. Beyond that, cellular automata have serious
scientific and mathematical implications.
Stephen Wolfram (1984) has viewed cellular automata as systems of simple
components capable of complex collective effects such as the simulation of partial
differential equations and deterministic chaos. He has described four general
behaviors for cellular automata patterns. 1) They disappear with time, 2) they