] Bigend contends that ''the creative process is no longer
] contained within an individual skull, if indeed it ever
] was. Everything, today, is to some extent the reflection of
] something else.

I have at home a copy of the Thomas Cleary translation of
the 'Avatamsaka Sutra', a scripture of awesome beauty and
complexity and scope. Although it's original author is
unknown, the Avatamsaka Sutra is thought to have been
written in the first or second century of the Common Era.

In the Avatamsaka I have found several examples of recursive
imagery as well as precise definitions of truly huge
numbers. The above quote brings the Sutra to mind in that
the sutra is self reflective: that is to say that some of
the smaller passages reflect the work as a whole.

Consider the 'net of indra' image: reality is compared to a
vast net. At each node is a jewel in which is reflected
each and every other jewel in the net and in each
reflection...

    Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god indra,
    there is a wonderful net which has been hung by some
    cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out
    indefinitely in all directions. In accordance with the
    extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a
    single glittering jewel at the net's every node, and
    since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the
    jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels,
    glittering like stars of the first magnitude, a
    wonderful sight to behold. If we now arbitrarily select
    one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at
    it, we will discover that in its polished surface there
    are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite
    in number. Not only that, but each of the jewels
    reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the
    other jewels, so that the process of reflection is
    infinite.

Definitely worth a read, even if you are not a Buddhist.

RE: 'Pattern Recognition': The Coolhunter