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I am still trying to figure out a way of categorizing rules. At first, I thought that I could differentiate the different rules by whether or not they were statistically random, but I soon realized that too many of them contained this element of statistical randomness after presenting ordered patterns for a couple of clicks.

One thing that I am still thinking about is the statement, “cellular automata are capable of producing anything the universe is capable of producing”…

An initial thought is that cellular automata are capable of producing ordered structures and contain both randomness and predictability, so in that sense they can be linked to the real world in which both of these elements exist. On that same note, cellular automata are also capable of producing both simple and complex patterns. Do these elements then make cellular automata capable of producing anything the universe is capable of producing? Not sure that I’m convinced, yet. It seems too simplistic, but at the same time appealing because it is a different and simpler way of viewing the universe.  It was similarly difficult for some of us to accept the idea of our universe as a deterministic system in which we questioned whether or not then it was possible for us to be sitting here again doing the same exact thing if the big bang were to repeat.

From the different rules, I was initially struck at how many different patterns one is able to get. However, the more I played with the different rules, the more I realized similarities between different patterns. However, one thing that remained was the unpredictability between rules. There does not seem to be a pattern between rules. There was more of a pattern every other rule. This is apparent in Rules 129-134 in which rules 130, 132, 134 contain one line and 129,131,133 contain a large shape of a triangle in the center...

What surprised me even more what this: http://www.wolframscience.com/nksonline/page-55. Many of the rules are strikingly similar and seem to be repetitive. As a result, when I see the pattern again in another rule, it does not seem as “interesting”.