Watching the Time
The Launceston General Post Office clock tower. If time is the fourth dimension, the trick here is to squeeze all four dimensions of space-time onto a two dimensional frame. I'll give you two examples of how this works.
A simple one first: That statue from the insurance building, a sign of familial protection, is seen in this two dimensional image as taller than the tower. We know that's not true in three dimensional space. So we take it for granted that from this angle the eye is lying to us and our brain makes the correction - the tower is taller.
Now what of the fourth dimension? This view is EXACTLY the same one a person standing here in 1910 would have had of this scene. So in fact the space hasn't changed. Only time has. The ONLY thing separating me from our 1910 observer is 112 years of passed time. And if there's a "wrinkle in time" would I see their ghost? Do our senses lie to us? And why doesn't our brain make the correction?
Watching the Time
The Launceston General Post Office clock tower. If time is the fourth dimension, the trick here is to squeeze all four dimensions of space-time onto a two dimensional frame. I'll give you two examples of how this works.
A simple one first: That statue from the insurance building, a sign of familial protection, is seen in this two dimensional image as taller than the tower. We know that's not true in three dimensional space. So we take it for granted that from this angle the eye is lying to us and our brain makes the correction - the tower is taller.
Now what of the fourth dimension? This view is EXACTLY the same one a person standing here in 1910 would have had of this scene. So in fact the space hasn't changed. Only time has. The ONLY thing separating me from our 1910 observer is 112 years of passed time. And if there's a "wrinkle in time" would I see their ghost? Do our senses lie to us? And why doesn't our brain make the correction?