- #1
Mentat
- 3,960
- 3
The "Powers" of a Fourth-Dimensional Being.
I think the thing I've enjoyed the most about Prof. Kaku's lectures and books is the references to higher-dimensional beings, and their abilities. Michio Kaku has often said that they would be like "gods", and that is not an overstatement in any way.
For example, a "god" is said to be omniscient. Well, if you were in a higher dimension, you would also be omniscient. To see why, I like the illustration of "Flatland", wherein the beings are all two-dimensional. In this two-dimensional world, there is no concept of the third dimension. Now, obviously skin evolved in order to protect the "insides" of a person's body, but there would be no reason for skin to have evolved in the third dimension, and so a third-dimensional person could "look down" on any Flatlander and see his/her insides as clearly as their outsides. A third-dimensional being would be able to perform delicate surgery on the heart of some Flatlander without ever piercing any skin. As far as the third-dimensional "god" is concerned, the skin of the Flatlander is but an outline.
Now, this ability for omniscience has more applications than just dealing with people. Take for example, the houses of a Flatlander. As far as the Flatlander is concerned, the house is covered "all around" (except for the doors), but, to a third-dimensional person, the insides are as clearly visible as the outside.
A jail, in Flatland, would be like a large circle, and thus would suffice, since it would cover the Flatlander "all around", and they would be unable to escape. However, if a third-dimensional being wished to assist this Flatlander, they could easily "lift" the Flatlander right out of the Jail. It would appear to any other Flatlander that their companion just "disappeared", and then "reappeared" on the outside.
Of course, this third-dimensional "god" needn't be a kind being, and could just easily use his "powers" to punish a helpless Flatlander. After all, if a being were able to reach into your body, without your knowing about it, they could find any number of ways to kill you, before you ever had a chance to run away.
Now, all of this talk about the third-dimensional being, and the Flatlanders, is really just an analogy. It may be that there are fourth-dimensional beings, that posses exactly the qualities that I've described above (along with many others), but they are able to do such things to us.
You could be walking down the street one day, minding your own business, and see a sphere of flesh appear in front of you. So, you turn around, only to realize that there is another such "ball" of flesh behind you. The two balls of flesh close in on you, and then you feel an odd pressure on every part of your body (inside and out, and from all directions). As far as everybody else is concerned, you just disappeared. But, in reality, you have been lifted onto a higher dimension.
Just in case you're wondering, none of this is really useful in your day-to-day life, but it's still fascinating to think of what powers a person would have, if they could just "rise above" the three usual dimensions.
I think the thing I've enjoyed the most about Prof. Kaku's lectures and books is the references to higher-dimensional beings, and their abilities. Michio Kaku has often said that they would be like "gods", and that is not an overstatement in any way.
For example, a "god" is said to be omniscient. Well, if you were in a higher dimension, you would also be omniscient. To see why, I like the illustration of "Flatland", wherein the beings are all two-dimensional. In this two-dimensional world, there is no concept of the third dimension. Now, obviously skin evolved in order to protect the "insides" of a person's body, but there would be no reason for skin to have evolved in the third dimension, and so a third-dimensional person could "look down" on any Flatlander and see his/her insides as clearly as their outsides. A third-dimensional being would be able to perform delicate surgery on the heart of some Flatlander without ever piercing any skin. As far as the third-dimensional "god" is concerned, the skin of the Flatlander is but an outline.
Now, this ability for omniscience has more applications than just dealing with people. Take for example, the houses of a Flatlander. As far as the Flatlander is concerned, the house is covered "all around" (except for the doors), but, to a third-dimensional person, the insides are as clearly visible as the outside.
A jail, in Flatland, would be like a large circle, and thus would suffice, since it would cover the Flatlander "all around", and they would be unable to escape. However, if a third-dimensional being wished to assist this Flatlander, they could easily "lift" the Flatlander right out of the Jail. It would appear to any other Flatlander that their companion just "disappeared", and then "reappeared" on the outside.
Of course, this third-dimensional "god" needn't be a kind being, and could just easily use his "powers" to punish a helpless Flatlander. After all, if a being were able to reach into your body, without your knowing about it, they could find any number of ways to kill you, before you ever had a chance to run away.
Now, all of this talk about the third-dimensional being, and the Flatlanders, is really just an analogy. It may be that there are fourth-dimensional beings, that posses exactly the qualities that I've described above (along with many others), but they are able to do such things to us.
You could be walking down the street one day, minding your own business, and see a sphere of flesh appear in front of you. So, you turn around, only to realize that there is another such "ball" of flesh behind you. The two balls of flesh close in on you, and then you feel an odd pressure on every part of your body (inside and out, and from all directions). As far as everybody else is concerned, you just disappeared. But, in reality, you have been lifted onto a higher dimension.
Just in case you're wondering, none of this is really useful in your day-to-day life, but it's still fascinating to think of what powers a person would have, if they could just "rise above" the three usual dimensions.