How To See In Four Dimensions

An anonymous reader writes "Think it's impossible to see four-dimensional objects? These videos will show you otherwise. Some mathematicians work with four-dimensional objects all the time, and they've developed some clever tricks to get a feeling for what they're like. The techniques begin by imagining how two-dimensional creatures, like those in Edwin Abbot's 'Flatland,' could get a feeling for three-dimensional objects. When those techniques are transferred up a dimension, the results are gorgeous."

Comments

Easy to see in four dimensions

[religious freak]

I'm looking at my monitor in three dimensions ... wait one second ... okay, I just saw it in four :)

Re:Easy to see in four dimensions

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine, if you will, that you're ignorant. That shouldn't be too hard. Do you complain that your 3D graphics card just adds more 2D pixels, where it should instead show hundreds of 2D pictures next to each other in order to represent 3D space?

Re:Easy to see in four dimensions

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool story bro

Re:Easy to see in four dimensions

[Hal_Porter]

"The third dimension is a theoretical realm of space and time in which the particles of dark matter of this parallel alternate reality bends light to collide with the electrical charges of the subconscious mind to create the illusion of movement where what is dark becomes light, what is light becomes dark. Some look at the third dimension and see nothingness. Others believe they see the very face of God."

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6T0UQfKTcQw

 

it see all time

[extirpater]

Take LSD and sure you'll see 4th dimension.

Re:it see all time

[Eli Gottlieb]

I prefer melange.

Re:it see all time

[Anonymous Coward]

Take LSD and sure you'll see 4th dimension.

I once heard the 5th dimension... it was back in the 70s, I think.

Simply imagine a space defined on R^N....

[Anonymous Coward]

then set N = 4....

Re:Scientology?

[Draconix]

Obviously, Lord Xenu has a Slashdot account.

Dupe!

[Xfacter]

Learned to do this on Tralfamadore.

Seeing in 4 Dimensions?

[EdIII]

Just go to any Burning Man concert and eat the multi colored Brownies.

I can visualize 11 dimensions

[harlows_monkeys]

Four? Trivial! I can visualize 11 dimensions...but 8 of them are very very small.

Re:I can visualize 11 dimensions

[Ibag]

That reminds me of a joke:

An engineer, physicist, and a mathematician are sitting at a bar, and the bartender asks, "Can any of you guys think about four dimensions?"

"Sorry, not me," the engineer replies.

The physicist chimes in, "I suppose I can, if the fourth dimension is time."

The mathematician starts laughing. "Oh, you guys, this is easy! Picture n-dimensional space. Now, let n be equal to four..."

Pfffft, is that all ?

[BlueParrot]

Here is a one dimensional projection of a 5 billion dimensional sphere: _

Re:not

[node 3]

Close one eye.

Old maths joke...

[SoVeryTired]

Pff. Real mathematicians just picture N dimensions, then set N = 4.

Seeing four dimensions.

[os2fan]

You can teach yourself to see in four dimensions, by using analogy and other things.

To begin, consider that a 2d picture can either be a picture (things can fall), or a map (things don't fall). Since the corresponding 3d thing is a picture/map of four dimensions, we can build objects like houses, furniture, etc from plan and views.

Not all seems to be aimple. A knife cuts: literally, it makes a surface by motion, and is therefore tipped by a space of N-2 dimensions. Rivers can be either "latrous" (1d) or "hedrous" (2d). A fault lake is 2d (since faults are a break of surface).

Holes come in two types, although these are topologically the same. One can have a "bridge" or "tunnel" kind of hole: in 3d, these are the same, in 4d they are different.

The planet rotates on clifford motion. This makes every point of the 4-sphere go around the centre. One sees this by equality of energy in modes of rotation.

None the same, there can be seasons. If the sun does not follow in the year-circle any of the circles of the earth rotating, then there will be seasons. You don't just have hemispheres in summer vs winter, but season-zones to match the time-zones. That is, for example, Christmas (normally in summer), can fall in early spring, or late winter.

The poles are replaced by circles of extreme climate. One has a "equator circle", and a "polar" circle. At the tropics (a singular torus-shape thing), the sun becomes to the zenith once a year. At the artic torus, the sun hugs the horizon for the equate of the shortest day.

Because the sun is relatively still in the sky, there is no variation in the number of hours. What makes the seasons is that the the sun is lower in the horizon, even at midday.

See, eg my site http://www.geocities.com/os2fan2/gloss/index.html

Re:Seeing four dimensions.

[ColaMan]

Careful.

You read just like the timecube guy did, before he took that last hit of bad acid.

Re:not

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, well he is dead!
Can't defend things when you're dead.

Re:did this years ago...

[Kent Recal]

oO

Re:not

[jacquesm]

good point. What's your home address ?

Nonsense!

[Anonymous Coward]

Three dimensions ought be enough for anybody!

Re:not

[BronsCon]

He;s afraid to tell you, but it's

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Re:Rod Serling

[BronsCon]

Dimented mind?

(Forgive the spelling, the pun dies without it)

OT but another mathematics joke

[Sycraft-fu]

A physicist, and engineer, and a mathematician are sleeping in a hotel when fires break out in all their rooms. The physicist get up, does some quick calculations, and then gets the exact amount of water required to put the fire out, not a drop wasted. The engineer also does some calculations to work out the amount needed, then proceeds to flood most of the floor, to ensure that there is a sufficient tolerance for error. The mathematician wakes up, and does some extremely complex calculations but does them much quicker than the other two. He then exclaims "I have proven I can put the fire out!" and goes back to bed.

Re:OT but another mathematics joke

[the phantom]

Meanwhile the statistician is running from room to room lighting fires -- he needed a larger sample.

Also, given an empty ice-bucket on the dresser, the sink in the hotel bathroom, and a burning trashcan, how does a mathematician put out the fire? Like any ordinary person, he grabs the ice-bucket, runs to bathroom, fills the bucket with water from the sink, and pours the water into the trashcan, thus putting out the fire. Now suppose that the ice-bucket is already full -- how does the mathematician put out the fire? He grabs the ice-bucket, runs to the sink, empties it, and returns it to the dresser. The problem has now been reduced to one that has been previously solved.

Re:Scientology?

[elronxenu]

Damn straight.

Re:not

[BronsCon]

I'm sorry. I was going for funny.

Didn't know Dubya read /., let alone that he knew how to read.