cookyman Posted May 31, 2004 Report Posted May 31, 2004 i am currently in an argument with my stubourn brother who thinks that there are phyisical 2D shapes just like cubes and other 3D shapes. i have tried to explain to him that it can't be possible as there is no way for the object to be created with no depth and therefor no way for it to exist. he reckons that it does exist and one example is of a projection onto a wall where u place a shape like a box infront of a light then shine it onto a wall and theres your "physical" 2D shape. Cooky
Uncle Martin Posted May 31, 2004 Report Posted May 31, 2004 Cookyman,When you say "physical" you imply mass, so your brother is wrong. The perceived object he describes has no mass. We could argue that the paint on the wall has mass, but it also has depth. However small that depth is, it still makes it 3 dimensional. Remove the light source and his "object is still there, just no longer defined or obviously perceived. The reverse of your experiment could be to cut a square hole in a piece of cardboard and shine a light through the hole. You'll see a square of light on the wall which would seem to be a 2 dimensional object. But this again is just perceived, it only exists as photons reflected from the wall striking your eyes. It doesn't actually exist. As far as I can tell a two dimensional object with mass doesn't exist in our universe. Tachyons are assumed to be two dimensional, without mass. Which also explains why they're undetectable. Flatland is a short story available online, fun read and it may help you understand this subject better. Hope I was of some help, but when it comes to other dimensions, one answer usually raises ten new questions.
cookyman Posted June 1, 2004 Author Report Posted June 1, 2004 thank u for that and i shalll show my brother. Cooky
Uncle Martin Posted June 1, 2004 Report Posted June 1, 2004 Just proving your brother wrong is rather petty don't you think? His type of creative, intuitive thinking is what lends itself to truly extaordinary revelations. Always question everything, even my explaination. I'm quite impressed with the way he sees things, it has allowed me to question things that I thought I understood.
cookyman Posted June 1, 2004 Author Report Posted June 1, 2004 not really because the reason of this post was to make sure that my brother was not lead astray from what is real so it was only keeping him from seeing and beliving something as wrong and he is only 13 so i couldn't help it. lol. and if u knew my brother u wouldn't think him the type to come up with exraordianry revalations. he only came up with that idea on the basis to try and prove me wrong in sumthin as he so ofen trys to do. he doesn't even like the idea of sciences . he is rather imature for his age. Cooky
Freethinker Posted June 1, 2004 Report Posted June 1, 2004 Originally posted by: cookymannot really because the reason of this post was to make sure that my brother was not lead astray from what is real so it was only keeping him from seeing and beliving something as wrong and he is only 13 so i couldn't help it. lol. and if u knew my brother u wouldn't think him the type to come up with exraordianry revalations. he only came up with that idea on the basis to try and prove me wrong in sumthin as he so ofen trys to do. he doesn't even like the idea of sciences . he is rather imature for his age. Sounds like my youngest son he's a contrarian. He will not only take the other side of anything just to disagree, but will invent the other side if it does not exist. Frustrating at times, causes continual infighting with siblings. But it is still exercising his brain and setting up the possibility of his being a serious skeptic. He just needs to find an orientation that uses this "talent" and effort into a productive and structured approach. Not that any of this will make it easier for you to deal with him as a nagging younger brother! lol
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