I'm having a very hard time depicting a being that exists in time. I am thinking way too literal and physical, can someone help?
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Okay, time to take a drip through dimension land,
Let's jump into 0D: You simply appear as a dot. Only infinitely small points can exist in this dimension. You have neither width, nor height! You have 0 measurable dimensions.
Moving up to 1D: A side on view of you renders your appearance to be a line. Only straight lines can exist in this dimension. You only appear to have a height, which we could measure on a y-axis. You have 1 measurable dimension.
Moving up to 2D: A front on view of you renders you to appear completely flat, but hey presto, you now how height and width! Your dimension could be described using an x-axis and a y-axis. You have 2 measurable dimensions.
Moving up to 3D: You have height, width and thickness. You no longer appear flat. We can look at you from the front and side now. You are a solid object with 3 measurable dimensions. You could be described using an x-axis (horizontal), y-axis (vertical) and z-axis (depth).
Now the reason we have trouble depicting ourselves in 4D is because we are restricted to 3D. Imagine if you were a flat object in 2D - you would have trouble imagining yourself in 3 dimensions! The fourth dimension introduces time, so you can now be described by a space-time graph.
4D: You have a space in 3D (x, y, z) but also have a position along the time axis, t. So if you are standing perfectly still in a room, we could describe your motion through space time with 4 coordinates, (x, y, z, t). If x, y and z remain constant, but t is increasing as time is in constant progress, your body would appear like something of a snake in 4D. Take the shape of your body, and move your 3-dimensional body along an axis. As this moves it leaves a 3D trail. So a 4D perspective of yourself right now, if you are standing still, would be a long train of yourself, getting longer and longer.
It is easier to describe dimension progressions like this:
0D: A dot.
1D: The dot can move along one plane to form a line.
2D: The line can rotate through a horizontal plane. Rotate it 360 degrees through its centre to form a flat circle.
3D: The circle can rotate through an upwards plane. Rotate the circle 360 degrees through this plane from its centre to form a sphere.
4D: This sphere moves through itself along a time axis, forming a snake-like entity.
This describes why space and time are not separate entities, but are really the same thing. As time progresses, your position in space-time is constantly moving. If you move through 3 dimensions faster than the speed of light, you are overtaking your position along the time axis and relatively travelling in time!
Let's jump into 0D: You simply appear as a dot. Only infinitely small points can exist in this dimension. You have neither width, nor height! You have 0 measurable dimensions.
Moving up to 1D: A side on view of you renders your appearance to be a line. Only straight lines can exist in this dimension. You only appear to have a height, which we could measure on a y-axis. You have 1 measurable dimension.
Moving up to 2D: A front on view of you renders you to appear completely flat, but hey presto, you now how height and width! Your dimension could be described using an x-axis and a y-axis. You have 2 measurable dimensions.
Moving up to 3D: You have height, width and thickness. You no longer appear flat. We can look at you from the front and side now. You are a solid object with 3 measurable dimensions. You could be described using an x-axis (horizontal), y-axis (vertical) and z-axis (depth).
Now the reason we have trouble depicting ourselves in 4D is because we are restricted to 3D. Imagine if you were a flat object in 2D - you would have trouble imagining yourself in 3 dimensions! The fourth dimension introduces time, so you can now be described by a space-time graph.
4D: You have a space in 3D (x, y, z) but also have a position along the time axis, t. So if you are standing perfectly still in a room, we could describe your motion through space time with 4 coordinates, (x, y, z, t). If x, y and z remain constant, but t is increasing as time is in constant progress, your body would appear like something of a snake in 4D. Take the shape of your body, and move your 3-dimensional body along an axis. As this moves it leaves a 3D trail. So a 4D perspective of yourself right now, if you are standing still, would be a long train of yourself, getting longer and longer.
It is easier to describe dimension progressions like this:
0D: A dot.
1D: The dot can move along one plane to form a line.
2D: The line can rotate through a horizontal plane. Rotate it 360 degrees through its centre to form a flat circle.
3D: The circle can rotate through an upwards plane. Rotate the circle 360 degrees through this plane from its centre to form a sphere.
4D: This sphere moves through itself along a time axis, forming a snake-like entity.
This describes why space and time are not separate entities, but are really the same thing. As time progresses, your position in space-time is constantly moving. If you move through 3 dimensions faster than the speed of light, you are overtaking your position along the time axis and relatively travelling in time!