Flatland and Time as the "4th Dimension"
On christianheresy.blogspot.com I started discussing the book Flatland, but didn't want to distract from Jason's theme. So I've decided to make my blog be a place where you can discuss things that aren't necessarily so serious. Here's the rule though. I'm not writing to be heard. I'm writing because I get bored, but it is fun to know that it's not just a diary. So the rule is that if you read it, you HAVE to leave a comment, even just to say you read it. Otherwise I'm just going to start thinking these things to myself rather than type.
Flatland overview:
A 2-dimensional square lives in a 2D world, basically a plane. He sees a circle which actually turns out to be a 3D sphere intersecting with the plane. The square has no idea what the directions "up" and "down" are, so the sphere "disappears" back into space. The sphere begins to nudge the square out of his 2D plane, which feels weird for the square, since this pressure is coming from inside of him, in a direction he can't comprehend. The square is eventually in 3D space...
The details you can read for yourself.
The point:
Some people say time is the 4th dimension, because the dimensions progress like this:
0.) 0 dimensions - a point (now this story is for demonstration, so don't get all technical, it doesn't matter how something in 0 dimensions can have an eye, or that technically you can't "see" a point, it's more of a parable)
1.) 1 dimension - a line (here's something interesting, you couldn't technically see a line either...)
2.) 2 dimensions - a square or some other shape you could draw on paper
3.) 3 dimensions - a cube, sphere, etc.
4.) 4 dimensions - a 3D object travelling through time. The argument is that everything gets more and more complex...imagine a point...becoming a line....the line sliding/stretching perpendicularly to become a square...the square sliding/stretching perpendicularly (what I mean by perpendicularly is that the square is sitting on the table, and then it just starts rising straight up off the table) to become a cube....
and...a cube constantly having a new position (or the same, it doesn't matter) as it travels through time. Another way to look at it is this way: Imagine a 3D image, look out your window or something, now that image has the 3 dimensions that you see, left/right, forward/backward, up/down, but an infinite number of times every second it is updating/changing as it travels through time. Just like there are an infinite number of positions that a point could take along a line that may be only 1 inch long, there are an infinite number of 3D pictures that take place in one second. So time is the 4th dimension.
Until it's proven, I think it's a good suggestion, but I think it's wrong....
to be continued...
Flatland overview:
A 2-dimensional square lives in a 2D world, basically a plane. He sees a circle which actually turns out to be a 3D sphere intersecting with the plane. The square has no idea what the directions "up" and "down" are, so the sphere "disappears" back into space. The sphere begins to nudge the square out of his 2D plane, which feels weird for the square, since this pressure is coming from inside of him, in a direction he can't comprehend. The square is eventually in 3D space...
The details you can read for yourself.
The point:
Some people say time is the 4th dimension, because the dimensions progress like this:
0.) 0 dimensions - a point (now this story is for demonstration, so don't get all technical, it doesn't matter how something in 0 dimensions can have an eye, or that technically you can't "see" a point, it's more of a parable)
1.) 1 dimension - a line (here's something interesting, you couldn't technically see a line either...)
2.) 2 dimensions - a square or some other shape you could draw on paper
3.) 3 dimensions - a cube, sphere, etc.
4.) 4 dimensions - a 3D object travelling through time. The argument is that everything gets more and more complex...imagine a point...becoming a line....the line sliding/stretching perpendicularly to become a square...the square sliding/stretching perpendicularly (what I mean by perpendicularly is that the square is sitting on the table, and then it just starts rising straight up off the table) to become a cube....
and...a cube constantly having a new position (or the same, it doesn't matter) as it travels through time. Another way to look at it is this way: Imagine a 3D image, look out your window or something, now that image has the 3 dimensions that you see, left/right, forward/backward, up/down, but an infinite number of times every second it is updating/changing as it travels through time. Just like there are an infinite number of positions that a point could take along a line that may be only 1 inch long, there are an infinite number of 3D pictures that take place in one second. So time is the 4th dimension.
Until it's proven, I think it's a good suggestion, but I think it's wrong....
to be continued...
posted by shawn @ 3:15 PM
3 Comments:
At 7:30 AM,
Chris Trumble said…
I also think it's wrong. Are these theorists thinking too much of time as a line, a "timeline"? I can move things in 3 axis, and see their progression through real 'space'. Now, the only way you can tell time is 'moving' is by other events that happen through time. For example, you know the day is progressing by the position, and finally absence of the sun. You see your watch hands moving. If you were in a small dimly lit box, you would be able to see your hand move through space, but I would have a distorted sense of time. THis is not to say that what you cannot detect does not exist, it's just how it's classified.
At 5:52 PM,
Unknown said…
Whatever number of Dimension there are I believe in IUIV (Infinite Universes and Infinite Variation) because the alternative is predetermination and and no free will.
At 4:57 AM,
Anonymous said…
I sort of agree. although I wouldn't have a problem with only one infinite universe. I also don't want to believe in predetermination. And I don't think it exists just because I can't make sense of it in my head, i just don't think it makes sense that the universe (or maybe God) knew that I was going to consider predetermination, and then wiggle my finger back and forth, trying to do it unexpectedly. It just doesn't seem fair or natural.
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