Reading my Mom's Rotary Club of Briarcliff Manor blog, I saw mention of "Parallel Universes." It really isn't so mystical for those of us who know Edwin A. Abbott's Flatland - a wonderful little book that I read in grade school that helped me understand the unimaginable. For those more visually than literally inclined, there's now a charming movie version available on DVD (it's in my collection).
I recall getting headaches in my youth trying to think of what additional dimensions we might be living in (beyond our 3 space and 1 time dimension). Now physicists have theorized that we exist in 11 dimensions (string theory). Having mulled about Flatland for so many years, I have some inkling about the mysteries they are unveiling. It's quite fun now to think a bit about the possibilities of what it means to be part of a universe of additional dimensions outside our experience. And I don't get headaches thinking about it anymore.
We have enough headaches with the dimensions we already have. Why bother with more?
ReplyDeleteTwo reasons:
ReplyDelete1. To stretch the mind (it may be like a muscle - "no pain, no gain!").
2. Maybe there are answers out there. As they said in the movie Toy Story: "To infinity and beyond!" :-)
I agree with KS. It is not that I no longer have a curious mind. But in my late 70s, I just don’t want to stretch my mind that much , certainly not to think about 11 dimensions , I am afraid that my rubber band will break:-)
ReplyDeleteHi Roger, I'd like to borrow your dvd - I thrive in more than 3 dimensions!
ReplyDelete