Mirrors And The Fourth Dimension

less than 1m read

·Nov 10, 2024

Mirrors do not show us a fourth dimension, but they do show us what a fourth dimension could do to us. First, notice that some things are the same as their mirror image, but some things are not. These two shapes are similar, but they cannot be rotated to look identical, to be superimposable on each other. This is called being chiral.

A chiral shape and its mirror image are called anatomorphs. These two shapes are anatomorphs in two dimensions. No amount of two-dimensional rotations will ever make them superimposable. To do that, I'll need to smash one of them inside out, turn it into its own mirror image, or rotate it in a third, higher dimension.

If I place a sticker here and face that side away from me, notice that the mirror inverts the object, just like a rotation through a higher dimension. The side of the real object that's furthest from me becomes the side of the virtual object that's closest to me. So, what would I look like if I was rotated around a plane in a fourth spatial dimension and then brought back? I would look like that.

Follow THESE Watch Brands For Your Collection | Kitco

A Suspiciously Expensive Delivery | To Catch a Smuggler: South Pacific | National Geographic

View All

Take Accountability to Earn Equity

Accountability is important because that’s how you’re going to get leverage. That’s how you’re going to get credibility. It’s also how you’re going to get equity. You’re gonna get a piece of the business when you’re negotiating with other people. Ultimat…

Ray Dalio: We're Already in Another Depression

So I was recently listening to a TED talk with Ray Dalio about the current state of the global economy, and I was really surprised that Ray was quite confident in the idea that we are in the start of another depression very similar to what we saw in 1929.…

Shutting down or exiting industry based on price | AP Microeconomics | Khan Academy

We’ve spent several videos already talking about graphs like you see here. This is the graph for a particular firm. Maybe it’s making donuts, so it’s in the donut industry. We can see how the marginal cost relates to the average variable cost and average …

Neil and Katy Discuss Fingerprints and Individuality | StarTalk

Why are there seven million people? And why do each one of us have our own fingerprint? Even twins have different fingerprints, who are otherwise genetically identical. Why would you rather we were all the same? No, I’m not. Why is that more odd to you th…

The sad truth about work (it doesn't need to be like this)

When I was 16 years old, I landed my first real job. It was a horrible telemarketing job where we sat in this building right here in windowless rooms and peddled lotteries and magazine subscriptions to mainly old people. Looking back, I’m not very proud o…

Work and power | Physics | Khan Academy

Earlier, roller coasters used to start from a height with a lot of gravitational potential energy, which then got converted into kinetic energy as the coaster went down. But what you’re seeing here is an example of something called a launched roller coast…

Mirrors And The Fourth Dimension

More Articles