What the hell is a 4D maze? Maybe just a theory, maybe it's something we just haven't been able to grasp quite fully. I have been facinated throughout my life with similar and hidden patterns in the world around us. Somewhat like coincidence but on a different level.
Once I was at bar that displayed art from locals. A painting caught my eye. For a moment I clearly saw a black labrador retriever but looking at it directly the main intent was an abstract painting. Very talented artist to pull that off that type of subtlety, I thought. A girl next to me noticed me staring at it and asked me if I liked it. I said yes, every much and explained about the black dog in it. She looked perplexed for a moment, stared for awhile and said that she had painted it and never for a moment noticed any likeness of a dog which she now agreed was clearly there.
I see that in this world there are too many parallels that are difficult to explain with the tools and the rules that we presently have. Two things happening at near the same moment, people knowing the same things even though they are great distances apart and separated by language and culture.
In the book Flatland (1882) by Edwin Abbott Abbott, the concept of the fourth dimension is explained rather well. In Flatland the inhabitants (triangles, squares and circles) live in a 2-dimensional world like a drawing on a piece of paper. One day they are visited by sphere from the third dimension. Of course all they can see is the sphere's cross section. As it moves through the 2 dimensional space it appears as a small circle which grows and then shrinks again before disappearing(!). In the 2D world you can see the shadow of 3D objects but it would be confusing to watch the shadow of a rotating 3D object such as a piano and make any sense out of it. Furthermore, in our 3D world we can pick up that 2D world like a piece of paper, fold it, stick a pin through it and a hole would instantly appear in 2 disparate locations at once.
Imagine us in the 3D universe being so limited as compared to a 4D universe and I think you start to see what I am getting at.
Several years ago at the Exploratorium in Golden Gate Park, SF, I saw a large artwork of jumbled curved wooden beams. It made no sense, it could've been dropped from a hundred feet and would've been just as useful as art. On the floor below it was a dotted line so I followed it. The line ended and it said 'look up'. The artwork had transformed into an amazing sculpture that because of the dimension of depth, could only be viewed correctly from one angle.
For us to view objects in the 4th dimension we will similarly have to find these objects to line up but it won't be easy as they may be in different places and different angles. It is up to us to find these clues and by keeping our eyes open and using our abstract-capable minds to put it all together. To merely exist is not enough, we need to push the boundaries of thought, or be content with comfortable ignorance as of those in Flatland.
Once I was at bar that displayed art from locals. A painting caught my eye. For a moment I clearly saw a black labrador retriever but looking at it directly the main intent was an abstract painting. Very talented artist to pull that off that type of subtlety, I thought. A girl next to me noticed me staring at it and asked me if I liked it. I said yes, every much and explained about the black dog in it. She looked perplexed for a moment, stared for awhile and said that she had painted it and never for a moment noticed any likeness of a dog which she now agreed was clearly there.
I see that in this world there are too many parallels that are difficult to explain with the tools and the rules that we presently have. Two things happening at near the same moment, people knowing the same things even though they are great distances apart and separated by language and culture.
In the book Flatland (1882) by Edwin Abbott Abbott, the concept of the fourth dimension is explained rather well. In Flatland the inhabitants (triangles, squares and circles) live in a 2-dimensional world like a drawing on a piece of paper. One day they are visited by sphere from the third dimension. Of course all they can see is the sphere's cross section. As it moves through the 2 dimensional space it appears as a small circle which grows and then shrinks again before disappearing(!). In the 2D world you can see the shadow of 3D objects but it would be confusing to watch the shadow of a rotating 3D object such as a piano and make any sense out of it. Furthermore, in our 3D world we can pick up that 2D world like a piece of paper, fold it, stick a pin through it and a hole would instantly appear in 2 disparate locations at once.
Imagine us in the 3D universe being so limited as compared to a 4D universe and I think you start to see what I am getting at.
Several years ago at the Exploratorium in Golden Gate Park, SF, I saw a large artwork of jumbled curved wooden beams. It made no sense, it could've been dropped from a hundred feet and would've been just as useful as art. On the floor below it was a dotted line so I followed it. The line ended and it said 'look up'. The artwork had transformed into an amazing sculpture that because of the dimension of depth, could only be viewed correctly from one angle.
For us to view objects in the 4th dimension we will similarly have to find these objects to line up but it won't be easy as they may be in different places and different angles. It is up to us to find these clues and by keeping our eyes open and using our abstract-capable minds to put it all together. To merely exist is not enough, we need to push the boundaries of thought, or be content with comfortable ignorance as of those in Flatland.
