3 ms·
> future states that all contain the same specific pattern. Past yes, but probably not future surely? I see no reason such a pattern couldn't be broken by outs
by contravariant 5y ago
> future states that all contain the same specific pattern.
Past yes, but probably not future surely? I see no reason such a pattern couldn't be broken by outside influence somewhere in the future.
- kevincox 5y agoIf I am understanding correctly that is not the case. The point of the "don't care" squares in the diagram is that the pattern will continue no matter what they are so any outside interference is irrelevant. It won't be sufficient to change the pattern.
- contravariant 5y agoBut if you leave those squares all empty it won't keep the original pattern, so I'm not sure how that can be right.
- dvgrn 5y agoRight -- this discovery is about identical states extending into the past, not into the future. A Conway's Life pattern that has to stay the same into the indefinite future would be an impenetrable wall, and we don't know of any such thing in the Life rule. It hasn't exactly been proved impossible, but nobody seriously thinks that such a thing exists. I think it _can_ easily be proven that a finite stable (period 1) impenetrable wall can't exist. It's trivial to find a way to attack the corners, and almost equally trivial to find something that makes a change at any edge.
- galaxyLogic 5y agoRight you can break it, but can you prevent its reincarnation?
- contravariant 5y agoWell yeah, in fact it would be impossible to rebuild.