The 4th Dimension

Benjamin Makes, Medina High School

Our universe is commonly expressed in terms of three dimensions. Einstein theorized that the fourth dimension is time. Time cannot move backward, but the first three dimensions can.

I believe that time itself is not the fourth dimension. I believe that the fourth dimension is simply another plane of existence; one that humans cannot see or identify. This is a result of evolution: humans evolved without the need to comprehend the fourth dimension. For this reason, our minds are incapable of the idea of such a plane.

Due to this incomprehensibility, we can in fact not be sure that the fourth dimension is not time. If it were, this would mean humans evolved only to understand time in a forward motion. This does not mean time only moves in one direction, it simply means our brains cannot think in such a way. This puts humans in a predicament. If our minds simply cannot comprehend the fourth dimension, how can we prove what quantity it is? We cannot be sure that time is in fact the fourth dimension. It for very well could be, but due to our incapability to understand time in a negative way, we cannot prove it.

Take, for example, a two dimensional person living in a two dimensional plane. If we were to move a sphere through the third dimension through his two planes, it would appear as a single point that grows to the diameter of the sphere and then shrinks to a point. To us, it would seem like a ball moving through a flat plane. To the two dimensional man, the growing and shrinking circle would seem strange. He would not be able to comprehend the ball moving in a third dimension, or even the concept of a sphere at all. This is the case with humans. We can only comprehend three dimensions, so how would we be able to study the fourth dimension?