Complexity out of Simplicity
This is an image that I've been working on in an attempt to show how complexity can be generated out of simplicity.
I've created it as an analogy for the manner in which our complex universe is generated from very simple events at a sub-subatomic level. It will feature in the book that I'm writing on the subject of the nature of the universe and our perception of our place in it. (For more about the book, visit my blog.)
For the image I've created two simple grids of black dots that rotate one above the other. Where the dots overlap I've made the black cancel itself out (leaving the white background) so that you can be aware of the overlapping areas, as shown here.
The momentary flash of pure white in the animation is when the two grids are perfectly superimposed, and thus cancel each other out.
Notice how, as the grids rotate, the simple arrangements of dots generate very complex patterns.
The effect looks a bit like an optical illusion, but it isn't an optical illusion at all, in that your eyes or brain aren't being deceived by what they see.
Its closest equivalent in real life is the Moire fringe effect: the wavy lines formed by the interference between two regular patterns of lines or dots (such as in overlapping lace curtains).