I think it’s time to shatter the myth and mystique of dimension.

I’ve come realize something very fundamental. No one knows what the hell dimension means. Not even me entirely until this very moment. It’s been staring at us forever, but I do think we ever appreciated the depth of the mathematical truth.

I know that statement is true, because for years I’ve been asking the question. How do we define dimension? I felt stupid asking the question, because I thought it was something I should just know. String theory readily works in multiple dimensions. Quantum physics talks regularly about hidden dimensions and parallel universe. We have erroneously (and arguably I suppose) viewed space as 3D. I honestly did feel stupid asking the question. To my surprise, no one seemed to be able to answer the question coherently. And I thought I was the one having the issue, so I stopped asking.

There is no definition of what constitutes dimension in physics anywhere.

What is dimension?

A dimension mathematically only represents one thing. It’s a finite line segment. On one end of the line, we have a minimum state, and on the other end, we have a maximum state.

For example:

0|————————–|1

That’s a mathematical dimension. Simple enough to understand.

There are 3 fundamental dimensions that make up the universe, space, time, and motion, and those dimensions subdivide into separate, or equal but opposite dimensions.

For the total universe, I inserted space into the middle. Space can either exist, or not exist. If either state existed on its own, that state would be absolute. There would be nothing else. That’s not what we observe, because we exist.

|1|–>–space–>–|0|

Space is the top dimension, because it represents the material universe. Everything depends on space to exist. For a universe to exist within space, space needs to do something.

Space needs mass for a universe to exist, so I added expansion and contraction.

1|–>–contraction–>–|0 (matter)

1|–<–expansion–<–|0 (space we traverse)

Mass alone doesn’t mean anything without energy, so we need to add motion:

0|–>–acceleration–>–|1 (matter)

0|–<–deceleration–<–|1 (space we traverse)

Then we must be able to perceive everything, so we insert time.

1|–>–time fast–>–|0 (matter)

1|–<–time slow–<–|0 (space we traverse)

That could be considered 6 dimensions out of 1. These are the base fundamental dimensions that make up our reality. None of these can either be created nor destroyed. They are what drives existence.

We can say the universe is 3D, but really, even that’s probably wrong in hindsight.

The universe is an amalgamation of a multitude of sub dimensions, all subdivided from the base set. Each one of those sub-dimensions becomes important in understand the universe, from the physical world, to the cognitive world, to the emotion world, to the biological world, etc. The list could go on and on, depending on what it is we’re trying to understand. Dimensions are the variables in the problem. Understanding the state of each dimension helps us solve problems.

For example:

1|–>–cold–>–|0

1|–<–hot–<–|0

1|–>–short–>–|0

1|–<–long–<–|0

1|–>–uncertainty–>–|0

1|–<–certainty–<–|0

1|–>–entropy–>–|0

1|–<–negentropy–<–|0

1|–>–compress–>–|0

1|–<–decompress–<–|0

We could go on categorizing difference dimensions from this point, into things like, cognitive dimensions, emotional dimensions, physical dimensions, material dimensions, perceptual dimensions, etc., etc.

I must question uncertainty as a principle in quantum mechanics. That’s more of a cognitive or emotional dimension, not really a physical property. It’s a contradiction in terms as a principle. Are we absolutely certain we are absolutely uncertain? It seems a little unproductive to me. The tail wagging the dog. A circular argument.

Another thing I notice is that these sub-dimensions have an orientation. And they should.

It’s ironic, because I can’t even see length, width, or height, as meaningful dimension. Short/long pretty much defines all of them. How we put multiple lengths together in a math problem is what becomes important in understanding the problem. Space isn’t really 3D, it’s 1D, but it has scale due to expansion and contraction. That’s what defines as something tangible. And with an arbitrary length, width and height, we can perceive what that scale means in relationship to something else. Its scale can define density, or its motion can define temperature, etc. There is a lot of facets to sub-dimensions.

This is a new line of thought for me, so I’m still sorting it out in my mind.

But it makes perfect dense. We’re multi sub-dimensional beings in a multi sub-dimensional universe derived from space, time and motion.