Awesome presentation on the 4th dimension

[StereoInstaller1]

theres one now!

[Mossman]

It's 4:39 am and I know nothing about this stuff, but to answer the past couple questions like the pencil breaking question, If you hold a pencil so you can see the shadow it casts and your shadow hands move hard enough they'll break the shadow pencil too won't they?

The only question I have is this...as mr sagan showed when you see the shadow of the cube in 2D the angle's are distorted and lengths aren't equal. Yet all things in 3D follow the laws of physics, so if they really were different and just "shadows" or representations of what was really going on wouldn't they be distorted in the same way, and thusly behave and interact in ways that couldn't be predicted by simple physics.

[LEANE30]

It's 4:39 am and I know nothing about this stuff, but to answer the past couple questions like the pencil breaking question, If you hold a pencil so you can see the shadow it casts and your shadow hands move hard enough they'll break the shadow pencil too won't they?

The only question I have is this...as mr sagan showed when you see the shadow of the cube in 2D the angle's are distorted and lengths aren't equal. Yet all things in 3D follow the laws of physics, so if they really were different and just "shadows" or representations of what was really going on wouldn't they be distorted in the same way, and thusly behave and interact in ways that couldn't be predicted by simple physics.

The initial point that i think your edging to can be short-cutted by considering that what is being referred to as "Time" by this thread for the sake of articulation, as a looking glass upon the "4th Dimension" foremostly is addressing "Change", which is the 4th. ..."Time" is actually NOT the 4th dimension, it only is a result of Change, a "log" if you will of the history of alterations to the lower 3 dimensions within the 4th dimension, precieved from what some argue would be a 5th dimension, the "other" or "independent observer", arguably where the conception of "free will" or "choice" might begin to defend it's philosophical grounds.

As for your second position, Mossman, considering that physics fundamentally deals with the 4th dimension, aka: "Change", the records of events occurred through "time", viewed as being 3 dimensional objects within the same 3 dimensional world ever changing within the 4th that we are able to observe from our personal points of view, according to Einstein's theory of special relativity, are moving through "time" at the speed of light, the exact same rate at which all 3-d things progress within the 4th, this fixed rate of change within the 4th means that distortions do not occur as Sagan's 3-D objection into a literal 2-D shadow. The 3-D cube he held projected a 2-D image from a radiating singular source of illumination onto a field subject to a 3rd dimension from the orientation of the source of illumination, thus yielding a 3rd dimension resulting in distortion.

Now if all of the photons which caused the cast shadow from the 3D cube all held identical, parallel trajectories, passing through the 3D cube, cast a literal shadow onto a truely perpendicular field to their direction of travel, the distortion your refering to that was in Sagan's illustration would not exist. As ALL of a precievable existence travels at the speed of light uniformly, (aka: parallel,) within the "becoming" and the past is equally "timed" if distortions would be present they would be wholely uniform from our perspective.



edit: and in all fairness, I doubt smoking pot would help in understanding these types of abstract concepts,... although how much it may hinder one's ability to comprehend such matters may be overtaken by the added effort the individual would be willing to exert into understanding and rationalizing by aiding in the relaxation of the mind, helping to release preconcieved faith in common illusions, and increasing contentment within their setting, freeing their attention to the matter at hand.

[Dozyproductions]

yeah. You're sig says it nicely.

[Holland]

I never thought this thread would go this far. Thanks to everyone who had something relevant to contribute. Subjects like this interest me but I am by no means an expert. Your replies have been a huge help i letting me grasp an even greater understanding on this whole subject.

[SpyHunter]

Maybe I missed it, but what is the theory about time when speaking about a spatial 4th dimension? This thread sparked my interest, so I have been looking into the 4th dimension off and on. I thought I read that one of the theories was that within the 4th dimension time was past, present, and future. Or, maybe while time is 2D here (linear), it is 3D within the 4th dimension?