Other Dimensions

Like a lot of other people, I've heard of there being more than three spacial dimensions for a long time. I was able to understand time being the fourth dimension, but I couldn't comprehend higher dimensions until I started taking computer science. With that being said, I could only understand it mathematically. I still couldn't visualize what a fifth or higher dimension would actually mean until I saw the video below. Not only did the YouTube Imagining the Tenth Dimension series show me what higher dimensions could be, it showed me how to visualize higher dimensions into infinity. You may need to watch the video multiple times before fully grasping it.

 

The funny thing when I discover things like this is how much other things I've experienced in life make sense. For example, alternate dimensions depicted in fiction are now more apparent. Obviously, I saw evil versions of my favorite heroes before, but I never really thought about an alternate dimension as part of a fifth dimensional space. So in a way, my understanding of higher dimensions allowed me to appreciate science fiction more.

Even with my understanding of higher dimensions, I have always been skeptical of multiple dimensions. Mostly because of the philosophical and religious implications. If there are multiple versions of me, are there multiple Heavens and Hells too? If all of my choices end up resulting in a new universe (a concept called imaginary time), then what purpose does choice really mean if I made the exact opposite choice in another universe? I also liked my thought experiment that if there are infinite versions of me, then there should be a version of me with God-like powers that I can control through my mind and have that being breach through to this dimension. Obviously I can't do that, but I couldn't understand why if the omniverse (multiverse of multiverses) theory was true.

A couple years later, I had a roommate who had much less of a scientific educational background than myself and my other friends. To this day, he is my quintessential example of someone who can be very wise without necessarily having a bunch of knowledge. I tried explaining the 10 dimensions video to him, and his first thought was what if all of this was BS. The truth is that he is 100% correct because higher dimensions may make sense mathematically, but there is no solid reason to truly believe that higher dimensions would necessarily behave like this (based on a loose understanding of quantum mechanics) or even exist at all. His skepticism of something that so many people will just accept at face value is something I still strive for every day. As of the writing of this blog, there is no evidence of dimensions other than the four we can perceive.

Or is there ...

The reason why I am writing this blog is because of my recent discovery of something called the Mandela Effect. Named for a lot of people believing that Nelson Mandela died in a South African prison in the 1980's than just recently. This was mildly interesting until I learned the shocking truth of the Berenstein Bears.

I grew up fondly reading Berenstein Bears book, computer games, and -I think- the cartoon. You may be surprised to learn that I didn't grow up with the Berenstein Bears but rather the Berenstain Bears. Don't believe me? Look it up! This discovery still blows my mind. The reason why this is relevant is that instead of believing that a lot of people misremembered the same thing, some have argued that this is proof that a good chunk of us may have instead quantum tunneled into another dimension. While not convincing proof of other dimensions, I don't think the Mandela Effect can simply be dismissed. I'm sure a lot of you reading this blog have the same false memory. Did we all travel into an alternate dimension? I do especially like the idea that this all happened when they activated the particle accelerator at CERN that some theorized would destroy the world. Maybe it transported us into an alternate dimension instead.