Imagining the Tenth Dimension - Rob Bryanton [FULL CLIP].flv

interesting clip

We start with a point

like the "point" we know from geometry

it has no size, no dimension

It's just an imaginary idea that

indicates a position in the system

a second point, then

can be used to indicate

a different position

but it, too, is of indeterminate size

To create the first dimension

all we need is a line

joining any two points.

A first dimensional object has length only

no width or depth

If we now take our first dimensional

line and draw a second line

crossing the first

we've entered the second dimension

the object we're representing

now has a length and width,

but no depth

to help us with imagining

the higher dimensions

we're going to represent

our second dimensional object

as being created using

a second line

which branches off from the first

Now, let's imagine

a race of two-dimensional

creatures called "Flatlanders".

What would it be like

to be a Flatlander

living in their

two-dimensional world?

A two-dimensional creature

would have only length and width

as if they were the royalty

on an impossibly flat

playing card.

Picture this

a Flatlander couldn't possibly

have a digestive tract

because the pipe from

their mouth to their bottom

would divide them into two pieces

And a Flatlander trying

to view our three-dimensional

world

would only be able

to perceive shapes

in two-dimensional

cross-sections

A balloon, for instance

would start as a tiny dot

become a hollow circle

in which inexplicably

grows to a certain size

then shrinks back to

a dot before popping

out of existence

And we three-dimensional

human beings would seem

very strange indeed

to a Flatlander

Imagining the third-dimension

is the easiest for us

because every moment of our lives

that is what we're in

A three dimensional object has

length, width and height

but here's another way to describe

the third dimension

If we imagine an ant

walking across a newspaper

which is lying on a table

We can pretend that

the ant is a Flatlander

walking along on a flat

two-dimensional

newspaper world

If that paper is now folded in the middle

we create a way

for our Flatlander ant

to "magically" disappear from

one position in his

two-dimensional world

and be instantly transported to another

We can imagine

that we did this

by taking a two-dimensional object

and folding it through

the dimension above

which is our third dimension

Once again, it'll be more convenient

for us as we imagine

the higher dimensions

if we can think of the third dimension

in this way

The third dimension is what

you "fold through"

to jump from one point

to another in the

dimension below

The first three dimensions

can be described

with these words:

length

width

and depth

What word can we assign to

the fourth dimension?

One answer would be

duration

If we think of ourselves as

we were one minute ago

and then imagine ourselves

as we are at this moment

the line we could draw from

the "one-minute-ago version"

to the "right-now version"

would be a line in the fourth dimension

If you were to see your body

in the fourth dimension

You would be like a long

undulating snake

with your embryonic

self at one end

and your deceased self

at the other

But because we live from

moment to moment

in the third dimension

we are like our second

dimensional Flatlanders

Just like that Flatlander

who could only see

two-dimensional cross-sections

of objects from the dimension above

we as three-dimensional creatures

can only see three-dimensional

cross-sections

of our fourth dimensional self

One of the most intriguing aspects

of there being one dimension

stacked on another

is that down here in the dimensions below

we can be unaware of our motion

in the dimension above

Here's a simple example:

if we make a Mobius strip

take a long strip of paper

add one twist to it

and tape the ends together

and draw a line down the length of it

Our line will eventually

be on both sides of the paper

before it meets back with itself

It appears somewhat amazingly

that the strip has only one side

so it must be a representation

of a two-dimensional object

And this means that a two-dimensional

Flatlander traveling down

the line we just drew

would end up back where

they started without ever

feeling like they had left

the second dimension

In reality

they would be looping and twisting

in the third dimension

even though to them it felt like

they were traveling

in a straight line

The fourth dimension

time

feels like a straight line to us

moving from the past to the future

But that straight line in

the fourth dimension is

like the Mobius strip

actually twisting and turning in

the dimension above

so, the long undulating snake that is us

will feel like it is moving in

a straight

line in the fourth dimension

but there will actually be

in the fifth dimension

A multitude of paths

that we could branch to

at any given moment

those branches will be influenced

by our own choice

chance, and the actions of others

Quantum physics tells us that

the subatomic particles

that make up our world

are collapsed from waves

of probability simply by the act

of observation

In the picture we are drawing

for ourselves here

we can now start to see

how each of us are collapsing

the indeterminate wave of

probable futures contained

in the fifth dimension

into the fourth dimensional line

that we are experiencing as "time"

What if you want to go back

into your own childhood

and visit yourself?

We can imagine folding

the fourth dimension through

the fifth

jumping back through time

and space to get there

But what if you wanted to

get to the world where

for example

you had created a great

invention as a child

that by now had made you famous and rich?

We can imagine our fourth-dimensional

selves branching out from

our current moment into

the fifth dimension

But no matter where you go from here

the "great child inventor" timeline

is not one of the available options

in your current version

of time

you can't get there from here

no matter how much choice, chance,

and the actions of others

become involved

There are only two ways

you could get to that world

one would be to travel back in time

somehow trigger the events

that caused you to come up

with your invention

then travel forward in the fifth

dimension to see one of the

possible new worlds that

might have resulted

but that would be taking the long way

the shortcut we could take

would involve us folding

the fifth dimension through

the sixth dimension

which allows us to instantly

jump from our current position

to a different fifth dimensional line

In our description of the fourth dimension

we imagined taking the dimension

below and conceiving of

it as a single point

the fourth dimension is a line

which can join the universe

as it was one minute ago

to the universe as it is right now

Or in the biggest picture possible

we could say that the fourth dimension

is a line which joins

the big bang

to one of the possible endings

of our universe

Now, as we enter the seventh dimension

we are about to imagine a line

which treats the entire sixth

dimension as if it were

a single point

to do that, we have to imagine

all of the possible time lines

which could have started from our big bang

joined to all of the possible endings

for our universe

a concept which we often

refer to as infinity

and treat them all as a single point

So, for us, a point in the seventh

dimension would be infinity

all possible time lines which

could have or will have occurred

from our big bang

When we describe infinity

as being a "point"

in the seventh dimension

we are only imagine part of the picture

if we're drawing a seventh

dimensional line

we need to be able to imagine

what a different "point" in

the seventh dimension is going to be

because that's what our line is

going to be joined to

But how can there be

anything more than infinity?

The answer is

there can be other completely

different infinities created

through initial conditions

which are different from

our own big bang

Different initial conditions

will create different universes

where the basic physical laws

such as gravity or the speed

of light are not the same as ours

and the resulting branching time

lines from that universe's

beginning to all of it's possible

endings

will create an infinity

which is completely separate

from the one which is associated

with our own universe

so the line we draw in

the seventh dimension

will join one of those infinities

to another

and as boggling as the magnitude

of what we are exploring

here might be

if we were to branch off

from that seventh dimensional

line

to draw a line to yet

another infinity

we would then be entering

the eight dimension

As we've explored already

we can jump from one point in

any dimension to another

simply by folding it through

the dimension above

If our ant on the newspaper were

a two-dimensional Flatlander

then folding his two-dimensional

world through the third dimension

would allow him to magically

disappear from one

location and appear in a

different one

As we're now imagining

the ninth dimension

the same rules would apply

If we were to be able

to instantaneously jump

from one eighth dimensional

line to another

it would be because

we were able to fold

through the ninth dimension

Before we discussed the first dimension

we could say that we first

started out with dimension

zero

which is the geometrical

concept of the "point"

A point indicates a location in a system

and each point is of indeterminate size

The first dimension then

takes two of these "points" and

joints them with a line

When we imagine the fourth dimension

it was as if we were treating

the entirety of three-dimensional

space in a particular state

as a single point

and drawing a fourth-dimensional

line to another point

representing space as

it is in a different state

We often refer to the line

we have just drawn as "time"

Then in the seventh dimension

we treated all of the possible time

lines which could be

generated from our big bang

as if this were a single point

and imagine drawing a line

to a point representing

all of the possible time lines

for a completely different universe

Now, as we enter the tenth dimension

we have to imagine all

of the possible branches

for all the possible time lines

of all the possible universes

and treat that as a single point

in the tenth dimension

Ah! So far, so good

but this is where we hit a roadblock

if we're going to imagine

the tenth dimension

as continuing the cycle

and being a line

then we're going to have

to imagine a different point

that we can draw that line to

but there's no place left to go!

By the time we have imagined

all possible time lines

for all possible universes

as being a single point

in the tenth dimension

It appears that our journey is done

In string theory

physicists tell us

that Superstrings vibrating

in the tenth dimension

are what create

the subatomic particles

which make up our universe

and all of the other possible

universes as well

In other words

all possibilities are contained

within the tenth dimension

which would appear to be

the concept we have

just built for ourselves

as we imagined the ten dimensions

built one upon another