If I had continued on a math and physics program, I likely would
have
dealt with the issue of other physical dimensions. I’ve decided to
start
writing down and posting my thoughts on the subject in the event
someone
else might find them useful.
Current attempts to deal with this subject are hampered by a tendency to think inside a Euclidean box. With the possible exception of time, dimensions are thought to have to involve something like length, width and height and are expected to be perceivable with the eyes. If we cannot see them, they must be too small according to versions of string theory.
We can see because specialized cells in our eyes react to a specific
range of electromagnetic radiation. Our brains convert these signals
into
an image we consider to have the three dimensions of simple Euclidean
geometry.
But are length, width and height the only characteristics we perceive?
Don’t objects also have characteristics like color and reflectivity
which
aren’t functions of length, width and height?
Most of us, regardless of our specific fields of study, have used or at least looked at a graph that represents some characteristics as if they had the two dimensions of length and width.
Even some mathematicians may be unaware that in its purest form
mathematical
systems don’t need to have any relationship to reality. The field of
geometry in its purest form is an abstraction that merely provides a
useful
way of representing the real world in a simple form that makes
calculations
easier. Mathematicians have often developed abstract systems that have
no apparent application to the real world. Many arithmetic series were
once nothing more than mathematical curiosities until researchers
studying
chaotic systems found an application.
Reality is actually more complex than simple geometries represent
it.
Different theoretical geometries deal with surfaces that are cubic,
spherical
, parabolic, etc. Yet all of these types of surfaces and more exist in
the real world.
Those who want to explain reality as more than length, width and
height
plus time need to get completely out of the Euclidean box and think of
“dimensions” as “characteristics” that may exist independently
of length, width and height.
For example, gravity is obviously not a function of length, width
and
height. Although the sun has higher gravity and greater volume than
earth,
a black hole much smaller than earth’s moon could have higher gravity
than thousands of suns. Gravity may be a dimension of reality by itself.
Physicists sometimes debate whether gravity moves faster or slower than light. If gravity is a dimension of matter, it may move as part of that matter.
Or, gravity might be a type of space. Gravity space might be flat,
that
is 2-dimensional, except at locations with matter. Matter would depress
an elastic surface. Matter in sufficiently close proximity would tend
to
“slide” together unless some other characteristic, motion for example,
kept it apart. Physics defines gravity as a “force”, but in this
example
gravitational attraction would be a function of the geometry of a
gravity
space..
Mathematicians and physicists need to start thinking of reality as
possibly
having many different types of geometrical spaces that intersect to
form
what we consider as reality. The three dimensions that humans perceive
may actually be the space in which different reality spaces intersect.
The “spooky” entanglement of electrons or other particles some
distance
from each other could be explained if those particles were linked in
another
dimension. A dynamic intersection of different spaces could explain how
particles could seem to wink in and out of existence.
The idea of an
aether might involve a separate physical space composed of photons.
Human intelligence might have a geometric explanation. Consider the example, of beings living in a 2-dimensional space. They would have concepts like forward, backward, right and left.
Describing two locations separated by one or more barriers
preventing
travel by a straight line route would involve describing the turns and
gaps that would be used to go from one location to another. Individuals
in that space couldn’t describe the straight line distance because
recognizing
that distance would involve viewing the area from above and above is a
3-dimensional concept.
Human understanding of the physical world is such that it is the
equivalent
of viewing that world from “above”. Thus human intelligence could exist
in a higher geometric dimension than the physical world.
Dimensional physics could also explain the Christian concept of the
Trinity(Father, Son and Holy Ghost(or Holy Spirit)). In n-dimensional
geometry
an entity projected into a lower dimension displays the characteristics
of that dimension. God the Father would be God in all “His” dimensions.
God the Son would be God projected into what might be described as
“human
space” – the space in which both the human mind and body exists. God
the Holy Spirit would be God projected into what might be described as
“mind space”. That is, God the Holy Spirit would exist in the space
in which the human mind exists.
Scientists have tried to find the location of the human mind or
consciousness
for years. One possibility is that the mind is an energy field
represented
by brain waves.
Time is often thought of as a dimension, but what is time? We
measure time by counting various cycles such as the earth's rotation on
its axis and its orbit of the sun, but is that "time"? Is time a
location that might be gone back to? Perhaps time is not an
actual dimension at least not in the sense that a "moment" of time is a
location. What is considered a "moment of time" could be the
unique intersection of various cycles, including irregular cycles such
as the comings and goings of humans..
email: reasonmclucus@netscape.net