

Visualizing the Fourth Dimension Using Color - zkz
http://www.rdrop.com/~half/Creations/Puzzles/visualizing.4D/index.html

======
dryicerx
Actually you can further extend color. Color it self is on a 3 dimensional
space (RGB). Now you have 6 dimensions to play with. Although in practice I
found that doing Brightness and (Red/Blue) is a good way.

If you are doing points on a multi dimensional space, you can start using
various shapes (Length, Width, Height) or Number of faces. Alternatively you
can also do stars with spikes coming out (more spikes per higher value), I
find this the easiest to visualize rather than shape sizes.

------
leif
I always preferred the blunt "pull this part back to yesterday, when the knot
wasn't, move it over here, bring it back to today, and it's unknotted"
argument.

~~~
rms
That's treating the 4th dimension as time, which is fine, but this article is
referring specifically to the 4th spatial dimension. Sometimes pop physics
type articles confusingly refer to the 4th spatial dimension as the 5th
dimension.

~~~
kschults
What exactly is the 4th spacial dimension? Since we only experience space in
three dimensions, how can we assign meaning to a fourth dimension in space?

~~~
secret
These may help visualize 4D space:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_dimension>

[http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_draw_a_4_dimension_cu...](http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_draw_a_4_dimension_cube/)

~~~
rms
The classic Flatland also helps.
<http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~banchoff/Flatland/>

------
TweedHeads
There are only three spatial dimensions, and time.

If you are going to play tricks using color, you may as well use flavors and
odors for a sixth dimension visualization (and any other property you may
think of for further extending dimensions).

I call bullshit.

~~~
raganwald
Please forgive my simplistic questions, I do not have any higher education in
physics and in my reading of pop science magazines I doubtless remain ignorant
of important developments.

What is the proof that there are only three spatial dimensions?

You say "three spatial dimensions and time." Is time a dimension just like the
spatial ones but we perceive it differently? Or is time something other than a
dimension? And when was this proved or demonstrated?

~~~
glymor
You can't prove there aren't more dimensions. After all you could be hiding
them in your garage with your invisible dragon or you could of rolled them up
in a Calabi-Yau manifold.

Time is a unidirectional so it's considered to be a different kind of
dimension than the spacial (bidirectional) dimensions.

~~~
gchpaco
.. Although depending on the particle theory you subscribe to, it may only be
unidirectional to us (positrons being electrons moving backwards in time,
etc.)

