1. A tangible computer readable medium encoded with feature enhancement and classification instructions, executable by a machine under the control of a program of instructions, in which said machine includes a memory storing a program, wherein execution of said instructions by one or more processors causes said one or more processors to perform a multitude of steps comprising: a. selecting a classifier and a figure of merit for quantifying classification quality; b. selecting a transform to generate features from input data; c. using a recursive process of functional dissipation to generate dissipative features from said features generated according to said transform; d. searching for at least one of said dissipative features that maximize said figure of merit on a training set; and e. classifying a test set with said classifier by using said at least one of said dissipative features.