Editing 1524: Dimensions

{{comic
| number    = 1524
| date      = May 13, 2015
| title     = Dimensions
| image     = dimensions.png
| titletext = I would say time is definitely one of my top three favorite dimensions.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Too much like a discussion. Needs a rewrite. Also either post the link to the comic mentioned that should be in the December 2014 issue of Wired magazine or delete the paragraphs. This comic is not easily found!}}
Our world is {{w|Dimension|3-dimensional}} (like in a box; length, width and height.) But in modern {{w|physics}}, {{w|space}} and {{w|time}} are unified in a four-dimensional continuum called {{w|Spacetime|spacetime}} where time becomes the fourth dimension. 

It is to this 4-dimensional spacetime that [[Cueball]] refers in his monologue to [[Megan]], while he is philosophizing about his life in these four dimensions. 

What Cueball comments on is that whereas we can, to some extent, determine in which direction we wish to move (at least on the surface of the Earth) in the three dimensions of space (up-down, left-right, forward-backward), we cannot help but being pushed ''inexorably forward'' through time. So it is quite lucky for Cueball that he thinks this is OK.

Being pushed constantly in one of the other directions would very soon be lethal. Suddenly  if you where pushed over a cliff or in front of a truck, or also if you were pushed hard enough {{w|Between a Rock and a Hard Place|against a rock}}. But even if you avoided any of these you would die soon enough if it was some constant direction, because then you would soon leave the Earth as it is in an elliptical orbit. (see [[1376: Jump]] especially the title text).

Moving forward in time will also eventually be lethal by causing old age, or by placing you in dangerous times when natural or man-made disasters have happened (or placing you in the path of a moving truck). But it is only possible to avoid these dangers by sidestepping them in one of the three spatial dimensions. 

In the title text Cueball then continues to muse about his favorite dimensions and places time in his top three dimensions. This means that one of the three space dimensions would be his least favorite. But in space, there is no difference between the three dimensions. It is only in a fixed reference system that you can assign any difference to these three directions (like on Earth). So this doesn't make any sense. Either time should be his favorite or his least favorite dimension. So if it is in the top three out of four, it must be number one...

However in {{W|M-theory}}, a theory that unifies all consistent versions of {{w|superstring theory}}, spacetime is eleven-dimensional, which would make a place in the top three a somewhat more interesting position. However, these extra dimensions are not currently detectable.

Cueball could also be referring to a naive "fixed" view of three spatial dimensions in a {{W|Cartesian coordinate system}}, as often seen in geometry textbooks: the X and Z axes forming a horizontal plane and the Y axis being the vertical one. In this case, presumably, his three favorite "dimensions" could be X, Z and time, as he could easily move along these three axes, but moving along the Y axis (e.g. flying over the ground - or falling down a cliff) requires special arrangements or is outright dangerous.

Interestingly, [[Randall]] has already made a [http://www.wired.com/2014/11/xkcd-guide-to-dimensions/ comic] about this exact topic in the December 2014 issue of Wired magazine.  This issue is about multiple dimensions, and Randall's section is about imagining higher dimension.  The article is a mix of xkcd-style comics and captions explaining them.  The comic in question show Cuball saying, "Of all the dimensions I could have spent my life being pushed inexorably through, I guess "time" isn't the worst."

The conditional verb used by Cueball suggests a different interpretation: "Of the four dimensions I '''''could''''' have spent my life etc .." but actually Cueball, as a character of a webcomic, has actually spent his entire life in a 3 dimensions universe (height, width and time). So when in the title text he says that time may be in the top three, he may imply that time is still his less favorite dimension

Previously Randall has made a comic about a man who was pushed sideways (although that was by the gravity which affected him wrongly) - so he was pushed both through time and fell sideways: [[417: The Man Who Fell Sideways]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting up against a tree, Megan lies with her hands behind her neck in front him under the foliage of the tree.]
:Cueball: Of the four dimensions I could have spent my life being pushed inexorably forward through, I guess "time" isn't the worst.

{{comic discussion}}

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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Space]]