Not really apropos to Python, but since the discussion veered into 4D: There's a great flash animation on how to visualize 10 dimensions (companion to a book on the same subject): http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php
My favorite redefinition of dimensions (but I can't find it anymore and don't remember where I came across it) was based on rotations. The idea is that we perceive 3 dimensions because the Greeks made the math work out, but we don't really live in perfect 3 spacial (height, depth, width) dimensions any more than there are dimensionless lines which go on to infinity, or infinite perfect planes, or spheres. Bucky called them on the dimensionless geometry, but I don't think he was the one who planted rotation-based dimensions in my head. So, instead of living in 3-D space, we live on a rotating sphere. The rotation of the earth on its axis is one dimension. The rotation of the earth around the sun is another dimension, the rotation of the sun around the Galactic core is another. The rotation of the galaxy relative to other galaxies is a further dimension. Of course, the dimensions go down, too. Rotation of electrons around the nucleus of an atom is one dimension, electron spin is another, etc. I think they had something like 17 dimensions labeled, and it was easy to visualize, and incorporated time (since rotations and orbits are all movement over time), so time did not have to be a seperate, isolated component. The whole thing is kind of wacky, and probably come from some fringe cult like Urantia (I sat through one of their lectures as a kid, and it seemed to have some good ideas for a science fiction novel). I forget how many dimensions are required by superstring theory this week (the 10 dimensions guy claims 10, but I know the answer has varied with the development of the theory, and not all proponents of superstring theory agree on the number of dimensions needed), but for me, thinking of them as these various rotations helps me keep it in perspective, even if it isn't an accurate map of the territory. --Dethe On 13-Sep-06, at 8:45 PM, kirby urner wrote: > On 9/13/06, Arthur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >>> >> He renamed 3d, in an "I know something you don't" sort of way. >> > > Not really. We say 3D because we think height (1), width (2) and > depth (3) come apart as isolatable components of volume. You can have > one (any one) with out the others. > > Really? > > Anyway, if you conceive of volume as primordial, as rock bottom, then > you might reconsider why a "3" and not a "4". > > Why start with 3 when the most primitive volume has 4 vertices and > 4 faces? > > It's not a completely insane proposal, and it's not like you have to > buy into it to the exclusion of every other paradigm. > > What's cool about namespaces is you can always change channels (if > you're mentally limber -- there're limits...). > > Anyway, it's a remote namespace, quite alien and "out there". > > I mostly say 3D like an ordinary person. When in Rome... > > Kirby > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig "According to the “New York Times”, last year White House lawyers concluded that President Bush could legally order interrogators to torture and even kill people in the interest of national security - so if that’s legal, what the hell are we charging Saddam Hussein with?" --Jay Leno _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
