Fractal Time Software Documentation Operations on the Graphical Display
- Moving the target date indicator
Whenever the graph is displayed, and the target date does not coincide with the start date of the time period, a vertical line is displayed beneath the point of the graph corresponding to the target date (unless this point is on the horizontal axis). You may then use the left- and right-arrow keys to move the target date indicator. As the line moves left or right the display of the target date (and associated days-to-zero-date and wave value) will change accordingly.
Control-left-arrow and control-right-arrow (obtained by holding down the control key while pressing the left- or the right-arrow key) will move the target date indicator by eight pixel positions instead of just one. This allows you to move the target indicator more quickly.
The Home and End keys can be used to cause the target date to coincide with the start date or the end date respectively. Thus if the target date is close to the start date, and you wish to move the target date to a date close to the end date, this is most easily done by pressing the End key to move the target date to the end date and then holding down the left-arrow key to move the target date backwards.
When the graph is displayed you may use the '+' and '-' keys to move the target date indicator to the highest and lowest points on the graph. This allows you to zero in on a maximum or minimum point by first using the '+' or '-' key to position the target date indicator and then approaching the target date with an approach factor of, say, 3. As is explained in Section 3 below, there is a method for automatically zeroing in on a maximum or a minimum point on the wave.
- Getting the next and previous segments
Suppose the graph is displayed for a 200-year period. You can graph the wave for the next 200-year period by pressing the End key to move the target date to the end date, then pressing the right-arrow key. You will then be asked if you wish to see the next segment of the graph displayed. If not, simply press the Enter key.
Similarly you can obtain a display of the wave for the preceding time period by pressing the Home key to move the target date to the start date and then pressing the left-arrow key.
If the timewave is displayed you can approach or recede from the target date. This can be done in "one-step" mode or in "zoom" mode. In zoom mode a series of approaches or recessions is performed automatically.
Suppose the graph is displayed for a certain period with the target date in the center. Press the up-arrow key to approach the target date and (for now) answer N to the question Zoom?. You will then be asked for the "approach factor". This must be a number greater than 1. If you answer "2" then the middle 50% (one-half) of the graph, centered on the target date, will be expanded to the full extent of the horizontal axis, thereby halving the time period displayed. If you answer "20" then the 5% (1/20th) of the graph around the target date will be expanded, thereby producing a time period 1/20th of what is displayed.
You can approach the target date a little by using an approach factor of, e.g., 1.1, or you can move in a lot by using, e.g., 100,000. The smallest approach factor you can use is 1.0000001. The largest approach factor you can use is 100,000,000 and in addition the resulting time period must not be less than the minimum timespan permitted, namely, 92 minutes.
Approaching the target date in this manner allows you to expand parts of the wave in a controlled manner. You can then see clearly that expanding short regions of the wave reveals further complexity, that parts of this complexity have further complexity, and so on (this shows the fractal nature of the timewave).
Suppose the graph is displayed for a 10,000-year period and that it shows a steep drop somewhere. You can pinpoint the start of the drop to the exact hour and minute as follows: Use the left- or right-arrows as described in Section 1 above to move the target date indicator as close as you can to the peak of the graph. In doing this it is helpful to watch the wave value for target date change as you move the line (try to get the maximum value). Then use the up-arrow key to approach the target date with an approach factor of 20. This will result in an expansion of the peak and (if you move the target date indicator properly) a new peak will be displayed - the peak of the peak. Repeat this process until you get down to the level of days, hours and minutes. Usually the maximum value of the peak occurs at 6 a.m., although not always.
Often the number of days to the zero date will be a multiple of a large power of 2 and one or two prime numbers. For example, (2^15)*3*17 is 1,671,168, and if you select a target date 1,671,168 days prior to the zero date of 2012-12-21 G, you will obtain a target date of -2563-06-21 G. If you then graph the wave for 150 years you will see a major drop in the wave. This particular descent into novelty might be associated with the construction of the Great Pyramid.
In an earlier time Bishop James Ussher calculated the creation of the Earth as having occurred at a certain date in 4004 B.C. Using the method described above, the Timewave Zero software allows us to give an improved estimate for the date of the creation of the Earth.
Scientists have concluded that the Earth was formed approximately four and a half billion years ago. The timewave attains its maximum value during the last seven billion years (a value of 16,515,072.0449181) at this time, whereupon a huge descent into novelty occurs.
To view the wave for this period, specify a target date of -4,515,538,863-06-10 G and a timespan of 2,000,000,000 years. Graph the wave and you will see the huge descent, ending around 4,000,000,000 years ago. Now specify a timespan of eight years and redraw the wave. This shows the peak, just before the descent. We may date the creation (or, if you prefer, the formation) of the Earth from the beginning of this descent. There are two ways we might define this beginning.
Firstly, we might say that the descent begins at the point when the wave attains its maximum value, just prior to the descent. If you specify a timespan of three months, and redraw the wave, you will see that there is a fairly flat portion from about May 1st through early July of the year 4,515,538,864 B.C. Although the wave comes close to its maximum value on May 2nd (with a value of 16,515,072.0449128) and on May 16th (16,515,072.0449179) it actually attains its maximum value (within the last seven billion years) on June 10th, attaining a value of 16,515,072.0449181. Thus -4,515,538,863-06-10 G is a possible candidate for the date of the formation of the Earth.
Secondly we could take as this date the date at which the descent gets into full swing. If you view the wave for the three-month period you will see that there is an abrupt change from flatness to descent in early July. This is perhaps a better candidate for the date of the formation of the Earth, and if so we can now announce that this event occurred at 6 a.m. on July 4th in the year 4,515,538,864 B.C.
To return now from these cosmic meditations to the actual use of the software: If you press the up-arrow to approach the target date and you answer Y to the question Zoom? then (after you specify the approach factor, as described above) the software performs a series of approaches automatically. This continues until either you press the Escape key or a timespan is reached such that the next timespan would be less than the minimum permitted.
If the display of the graph shows a maximum or a minimum point which is not at either the left or the right extremity of the screen then it is possible to zero in on that point automatically. To do this first press the '+' or the '-' key to move the target date indicator to the maximum or the minimum value. Then press the up-arrow key and answer Y to the question Zoom? You will then be asked if you wish to seek the maximum (or the minimum) point. If you answer Y then the software will approach the target date in a series of steps as in the ordinary zoom function, but at each point it will adjust the target date to the maximum (or minimum) found at that step. (The "seek factor" used in this case is 1.02, which works well for fast PCs, e.g. 300 MHz or so.) The result will be that, when the approach has reached the minimum timespan of 92 minutes the maximum or the minimum point will have been identified to the nearest minute.
This automatic seeking of the maximum or minimum will occur only if (i) the maximum or minimum does not coincide with either the left-most or the right-most point of the graph and (ii) you have positioned the target date indicator on the (approximation to) the maximum or the minimum by pressing '+' or '-'. You may still choose to zero in on the maximum or the minimum manually if you wish.
Just as you can "zoom in" on the target date using the up-arrow so you can "draw back" from the target date using the down-arrow. As with approaching the target date, you can recede from the target date either in one-step mode or in zoom mode.
When you press the down-arrow (and after answering the Zoom? question) you will be asked for a recession factor, which can vary from 1.000001 to 100,000,000 (subject to the restriction that the resulting timespan not be greater than the largest timespan permitted, about seven billion years). If you specify "2" as the recession factor then the timespan of the resulting graph will be twice what you began with; if "50" then it will be fifty times as long.
Receding from the target date is useful for placing a particular view of the wave in the context of a larger period of history. Sometimes a portion of the wave which is mostly rising will be seen, when you draw back from the target date, to occur in a larger portion of the wave which is mostly descending.
In zoom mode the recessions from the target date will continue automatically until either you press Escape or a timespan is reached such that the next timespan either (a) would be greater than the maximum permitted or (b) would require a start date (at the left of the graph) earlier than the earliest start date permitted (which is about -7,000,000,000-01-01).
Copyright 1999,2006 Peter Meyer
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