The Realm of Gods and Ghosts

When I first saw Cosmos as a kid, nothing fascinated me more than Sagan’s explanation of 4 dimensions. He used the concept of a tesseract to help illustrate hyperdimensionality. The concept is absolutely riveting; the idea that there exists space around us that is unknowable because our cognitive apparatus is not up to the task. I remember thinking that perhaps this is the realm of gods and ghosts, and though hyperdimensional visitors can see us, we are forever condemned never to see them. We can only catch a glimpse of them as they pass through our plane of existence. Humans are bound by three dimensions.

The truth, though sad, inspires the imagination. Not only is the universe unbound in all directions that we are capable of peering into it’s possibly unbounded in a way that is utterly incomprehensible to us. This concept was enough to inspire a seven-year-old for life. I still sometimes find myself lost in thought, wondering how to imagine a 4-dimensional cube, a tesseract.

I’ve posted the clip that continues to inspire me to imagine and dream a little differently.