Could there be intelligence outside of our dimension that we are unaware of?

As humans of the third dimension only, can we accurately detect “outsiders”?

To start to answer these questions, let’s analyze what the phrase “higher dimension” means in mathematics.

In math, we describe a “dimension” as the measure of an object’s size, or the description of space that an object takes up. To express this, we use axes on a coordinate plane.

For example, an object in the first dimension only takes up space that corresponds to the x-axis, or one line. 

Objects in the first dimension only take up space that moves in a singular direction. They can only move left and right.

An object in the second dimension takes up space that corresponds to both the x and y axes, so two lines that are perpendicular to each other.

 

 

This is known as the “coordinate plane” and is used to graph two-dimensional functions in mathematics. In the coordinate plane, objects can move two directions only– left and right, and up and down.

Next is our beloved third-dimension. This is the dimension in which all humans live and move and have their being; our brains observe the entire Universe in this dimension. Everything that we perceive to exist exists in the third dimension only. Nothing is two-dimensional, and nothing is one-dimensional. We describe this in math using the variables “x”, “y”, “and “z”. The x and y axes are the same as the ones in the coordinate plane, however we have added a new line, and therefore a new direction.

 

In the three-dimensional plane, objects are defined to take up space vertically, horizontally, and “outwardly”. The z axis protrudes from the x and y axes, creating a three-dimensional object. These objects can move left and right, and up and down, and forwards and backwards.

Now what if I asked you what does the fourth dimension look like? Or the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth dimensions? In theory, with every increase in one dimension, there would be a direct increase in the number of directions an object could move. We can illustrate this by adding a singular axis to the third dimension, protruding into a new space called the “fourth dimension”. Remember, this is exactly what the z axis does in the third-dimension. The only difference is that humans cannot perceive this new “fourth” direction. In order to illustrate it, mathematicians have been able to create different three-dimensional objects’ projections in the fourth dimension. (The video titled “Perfect Shapes in Higher Dimensions” explains this in great detail- it is the third video from the top listed in the sidebar.)

Here is a cube:

 

And here is its projected image in the fourth dimension:

 

Here are the five platonic solids that exist in our universe projected in the third (top) and fourth (bottom) dimensions.

 

 

With this foundation, we can now ask the question “Could intelligent life reside in a dimension higher than our own?”

World-renowned astronomer, Carl Sagan, illustrates this by applying the same question to a two-dimensional object.

 

 

Sagan describes this scenario:

Let’s say that there is a civilization of people who live in the second-dimension, called “Flatlanders”. They live and move and have their being in two dimensions, the same as us except without the forwards/backwards direction.

In Sagan’s Flatland, an apple enters the home of a Flatlander. How does the two-dimensional being perceive this three-dimensional object?

The two-dimensional being would, according to Sagan, see only a sliver of the entire apple. It would only see a two-dimensional projection of the apple.

Now, as the apple tries to talk to the Flatlander, the two-dimensional object perceives this sound as coming loudly from within, and all around, itself.

We can apply this same way of thinking to three-dimensional objects. If a higher dimensional being tries to show itself in our world, we would only see a three-dimensional sliver of what it actually is. If it tries talking to us, we would hear a “thunderous” and “majestic” voice. The voice of God as described in the bible is “…like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder.” (Revelation 14:2).

What I am suggesting is that perhaps there is indeed a “higher being” or “higher intelligence” that we cannot see, simply because it resides in a dimension outside of our own.

What if we are the Flatlanders, and God is the apple?

 

 

Thank you for reading! Until next week-

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