Humans have true 4D spatial vision

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of human spatial vision in relation to four-dimensional (4D) perception, particularly in the context of relativistic effects such as time dilation and non-simultaneity. Participants explore whether humans can perceive objects in motion as existing in all four dimensions or if their vision is limited to three dimensions.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants argue that if human vision were truly 3D, we would only see a single point of an object at a specific time-coordinate, leading to the conclusion that moving objects would vanish in the past.
  • Others contend that humans can perceive objects that do not share the same time coordinates, suggesting that every moving object has a different time coordinate compared to the observer.
  • A participant challenges the interpretation of time dilation, stating that time is defined in relation to physical processes and that there is no absolute time.
  • Another viewpoint emphasizes that what we perceive are photons emitted from objects, which are in the same time coordinate as ourselves, rather than the objects themselves.
  • One participant agrees with the notion that vision is a 3D representation of 2D images and suggests that vision is not truly 4-dimensional.
  • Another participant introduces the idea that we can measure multiple points of a moving object at a single instant, despite differing time coordinates.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of human vision in relation to 4D perception, with no consensus reached on whether humans have true 4D spatial vision or if their perception is limited to 3D. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing perspectives.

Contextual Notes

Some claims rely on interpretations of relativistic concepts, and there are unresolved definitions regarding the nature of time and perception. The discussion includes assumptions about the relationship between spatial and temporal coordinates that are not universally agreed upon.

Mortimer
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Humans have full 4D spatial vision

Consider this:
1) objects in motion show non-simultaneities along the direction of motion (the "temporal distance" between the endpoints is [tex]\gamma vl/c^2[/tex])
2) objects in motion show time dilation (the "temporal velocity" runs slow with a factor [tex]1/\gamma[/tex])

If our spatial vision would have been truly 3D:
1) implies that we would only see(*) a single point of the object with precisely the time-coordinate that coincides with ours.
2) implies that moving objects would vanish in the past alltogether.

Those things obviously don't happen so we have full 4D spatial vision, i.e. we can observe all 4 dimensions in its entirety.

(*) With "see" in this context I mean the usual "instant observation" of events as often used in relativistic thought experiments.
 
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Can you see things that do not have the same time-cordinates as yourself in your own frame of reference (not taking into account the time it takes time to travel from them to you)?
 
Yes you can. Its even so that every moving thing around you has different time coordinates compared to yourself.
 
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Mortimer said:
Consider this:
1) objects in motion show non-simultaneities along the direction of motion (the "temporal distance" between the endpoints is [tex]\gamma vl/c^2[/tex])
2) objects in motion show time dilation (the "temporal velocity" runs slow with a factor [tex]1/\gamma[/tex])

If our spatial vision would have been truly 3D:
1) implies that we would only see(*) a single point of the object with precisely the time-coordinate that coincides with ours.
2) implies that moving objects would vanish in the past alltogether.

Those things obviously don't happen so we have full 4D spatial vision, i.e. we can observe all 4 dimensions in its entirety.

(*) With "see" in this context I mean the usual "instant observation" of events as often used in relativistic thought experiments.


Your conclusion is based on a misinterpretation of the meaning of time dilation (assuming I understand what you really mean). There is no absolute time. Time has no meaning except in relation to physical processes. Time is always defined in terms of physical processes. The time coordinate is different from the spatial coordinate--the spatial coordinate is defined in terms of the spatial relationship between two objects, not in terms of the interaction between them. I'm not being very clear at all.


I'll simply respond to each point you make:

1a)not sure what you mean, but its been a while since I've touched a relativity text.
2a) Temporal velocity is a meaningless term, its not even a term. Time passes more slowly for an object in motion, but the object in motion thinks that it is the stationary observer who's clock is moving slowly. There is no difference, because there is no absolute motion or absolute space.

1a)No. We don't see objects at all. We see photons that have been emitted from or reflected by these objects. Those photons are in the same 'time coordinate' as ourselves, yes. But what where we think an object is based on sight is independent of where it actaully is, we don't really 'see' objects at all. We see where they were when the photon striking our retina left them. That photon is in the same time coordinate as us.
2b) huh? Where do you get this? Its sound like you're envisioning some absolute clock and since we're running faster than them, they slip behind us in time. No, there is no absolute time. Ten seconds for them, ten years for us, and then we shake hands. They think its been ten second, we think its been ten years. But they have not 'slipped into the past'.


Your conclusions seem to be based on a loose conception of an absolute time, something which does not exist.
 
Mortimer said:
If our spatial vision would have been truly 3D:
1) implies that we would only see(*) a single point of the object with precisely the time-coordinate that coincides with ours.
2) implies that moving objects would vanish in the past alltogether.

This sounds correct to me. We only see a single point of a 4 Dimensional object and we do not see objects in the past. We only remember objects from the past.

Vision is more a 3 dimensional representation of 2 dimensional images. Vision is not 4 dimensional.
 
franznietzsche said:
We don't see objects at all. We see photons that have been emitted from or reflected by these objects.
Granted. Forget about photons altogether and read "measure" wherever I said "see".
franznietzsche said:
1a)not sure what you mean, but its been a while since I've touched a relativity text.
That's a pitty because this is the essential point. We measure time coordinates as a rising or descending function of the spatial coordinate along the direction of motion in an object that moves while we measure these time coordinates to be constant when the object is in rest. We are able to measure multiple points of this object at a single instant in our time (by using multiple clocks on a measuring rod), despite the fact that the timecoordinates of the moving objects do not coincide (or only at one clock). See picture. So we measure the past, present and future of the object all at once.
 

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ah physics in a psychological world.
 

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