| Of Ghosts and Dimensionality Randy Robertson, c. 2007 Dimensions are an effort to explain the characteristics of existence. Keep in mind that dimensions, in this context, do not refer to alternate realities. They refer only to those "states of being" that exist in this reality as we understand it. Everyone is familiar with three dimensions; height, width, and length. These are commonly called the physical dimensions There are summarized by the questions; * How long is it? * How wide is it? * How high is it (or how deep is it)? It should be pointed out that these are based very much on our own points of view. If you have a box ten inches wide and fifteen inches long, and you turn it to one side, then the width becomes fifteen inches and the length becomes ten. The box has not changed. Only our perception of it has. There is also commonly understood to be a fourth dimension, time. However, this should be seen not as a dimension itself but as another collection of dimensions because of the questions that it raises. In fact, there are three temporal dimensions: Past, Present, and Future. These add the questions; * How long has it been there? * How long will it be there? * Is it there right now? However, there is a trick to temporal dimensions. If you ask "Is it there right now," and your answer is "no," then it automatically raises the question of "Where is it?" If the answer is "nowhere," then it begs the question, "Does it exist at all?" And that is where things get really nasty because, intuitively, you must have an object before you can describe it, even a purely conceptual one. It is conceivable that an object has width and length but no height, or 'is there' and 'will be there', but 'was not there before'. An object can be lacking in several dimensions and still exist. In fact, an object can conceivably exist with only a single dimension. But if the question 'does it exist' is answered with 'no,' then the object cannot truly be perceived and thus it does not possess any dimensions at all. But does this zero-dimensional condition itself classify as a type of existence? If you ask a mathematician if zero is a number, he will say yes, even though zero represents an absence of value. The implication is that absence of a quantity is itself a quantity. Therefore, it could be said that existence is it's own dimension. Now examine this object under conceivability. Cartesian Conceivability argument say that if something can be conceived, then it is possible. Therefore, since we have just finished conceiving a zero-dimensional object, then it is possible that such a thing could exist. That would give grounds to state that non-existence is itself a state of existence, can be described, and thus qualifies as a seventh dimension. At this point, you may be asking, "What's all this got to do with ghosts?" This may provide an answer as to how ghosts exist. Not the why, but the how. All dimensions are based on our perceptions of an object. Imagine an object with width and length, but no height. If we view it from one angle (assume a view from above or below), there would appear to be nothing unusual about it. But if we view it directly toward any side, we would see nothing because the 'height' aspect does not exist for us to perceive it. Viewed from an oblique angle, we would see it, but in a skewed fashion. It is possible that spirits have the same sort of dimensional limitation, that at least one and possibly several dimensional values are zero. If this is the case, then we could be highly unaware of them except for certain circumstances where we are in just the right position to view them. Also, we are 'objects in motion' and have a constantly shifting point of view. Much like the box described earlier, this alteration in point of view would assuredly change our perceptions of a limited-dimensional object, allowing us to detect them at different times and not at all in others. If these spirits are also in motion, this adds to the likelihood of having the opportunity to observe them, though for a much briefer period of time. But this requires a reflection on other dimensions as well. If an absence of dimension is itself a dimension, and 'zero' is a legitimate value of that dimension, then it follows that an object must exist in all dimensions at once regardless of it's dimensional values. Consider a molded seamless cylinder, such as a soda can. It has a set height and a set width (the diameter). But how long is it? As you measure around the can, do you stop measuring at the same point that you started? Your starting point was arbitrary. You assigned it that location based on your judgment, not any physical condition of the can. Is that truly a characteristic of the can, or is it an artificial value that you have imposed on it? If you had not been measuring it, would that point still exist? If it does not then the can's length has no beginning and no ending, and therefore becomes infinite. So, it is conceivable that an object can have an infinite dimensional value. How's that for a slippery slope? So then, what if a spirit has at least one dimension whose value is infinite? It could certainly be perceived, but it would defy measurement since it has no beginning or ending points. If we assign an arbitrary starting point then it might be easy measured, and those dimensions also readily perceived. Since human experience shows that ghosts are not so readily perceived, it becomes apparent that ghosts either do not have infinite dimensions, or might possess them only in combination with zero-value dimensions. At the same time, there is very little reason to believe that these spirits cannot observe us quite easily, since we are at least seven-dimensional creatures. If these spirits maintain a degree of consciousness, and observations of the phenomena suggests that many do, then their own actions will influence the chances of us being in an advantageous position to observe them, influenced by their own intentions. Certainly they would be in a better position to account for our individual movements than we are because of their superior points-of-view. And that is one possible reason that we encounter ghosts on some occasions and not on others. |