Can a 4D hyper-alien perceive depth with just two hyperspherical eyes?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores the concept of perception in a hypothetical 4D universe, specifically whether a 4D being, referred to as a "hyper-alien," could perceive depth using only two hyperspherical eyes. The scope includes theoretical reasoning about spatial dimensions and sensory perception.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether two hyperspherical eyes would suffice for depth perception in 4D, drawing a parallel to human stereopsis.
  • Another participant suggests that four eyes might be necessary to perceive depth in both the third and fourth dimensions.
  • Some participants express uncertainty about the mechanics of how a 4D eye would function, with one noting that a 4D being might see the world as a 3D image, potentially requiring only two eyes for depth perception.
  • Concerns are raised about the complexity of visual perception in higher dimensions, including the potential interference of receptors in a 3D structure.
  • One participant reflects on the analogy of viewing a cube in 2D as a way to understand how a hypercube might be perceived in 3D, emphasizing the limitations of dimensional projections.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on whether two eyes are sufficient for depth perception in 4D. Multiple competing views are presented regarding the number of eyes required and the mechanics of perception.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include assumptions about the nature of vision in higher dimensions and the unresolved mechanics of how a 4D eye would operate compared to human vision.

pierce15
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Hello,

This might be a bit of a stupid question, but if there were a universe of 4 spatial dimensions and photons behaved in the same way as in ours, would a 4D "hyper-alien" be able to see 4D perspective with only 2 hypershpherical eyes, or would it require more?

In case my question isn't clear, people who are born blind in one eye are not able to see 3D perspective- everything they see looks like a 2D picture. Having 2 eyes enables a human to judge depth. The name for this is stereopsis.
 
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Why do you think it would be 4?
 
piercebeatz said:
Why do you think it would be 4?

we use one pair to see depth in the z dimension and one pair to see depth in the 4th dimension.

Its my guess but I am sure a mathematician could provide a better answer with reasoning to support it.
 
I can't help wondering how many pairs of glasses one would need to wear to watch one of their movies.
 
Danger said:
I can't help wondering how many pairs of glasses one would need to wear to watch one of their movies.

I don't think it would matter extropolating from our latest batch 3D movies I'd say no one would want to see it.
 
To my understanding a 4d being would have a 4d eye that is capable of seeing the world as a 3d image similar to how we see the world as a 2d image projected onto our retina. In such a case I would expect those beings to need only 2 eyes to get a perception of depth. However, I base this on nothing but personal intuition which is about as reliable as...uh, something that's not reliable.
 
Drakkith said:
To my understanding a 4d being would have a 4d eye that is capable of seeing the world as a 3d image similar to how we see the world as a 2d image projected onto our retina. In such a case I would expect those beings to need only 2 eyes to get a perception of depth. However, I base this on nothing but personal intuition which is about as reliable as...uh, something that's not reliable.

I thought of that answer too but couldn't come up with the mechanics of how a 3D eye might work. I figured people would see via photons and thus you'd need receptors to convert the photons to signals for the brain.

To accomplish a 3D eye, the receptors would have to be arrayed in a 3D structure but then they would interfere with one another making image resolution difficult.

But then again maybe they wouldn't interfere. I recall the example of a knot. Knots can only exist in three dimensions and not four.

Anyway, I can't quite think of the right analogy to analyze this problem.
 
When you look at a cube drawn in a 2D surface, you can see a projection of the third dimension, but no the whole third dimension. When you look at a moving hypercube in the third dimension, you are seeing a projection of the fourth dimension.
 

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