Tesseract (n.)
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
A fourth-dimensional object constructed and usually imagined by human physicist, writers, artists, madmen, or people who strongly desire to be any or all of the above. Note that all of these human sub-groups can be recognized by their predominant common characteristic: Far Too Much Free Time.
A Tesseract is a simple three-dimensional cube, protracted into four dimensions. An 'unfolded' Tesseract (in three dimensions) looks like four cubes stacked one of top of each other, with a single cube on each side of the second tier. Human author Robert A. Heinlein and human painter Salvador Dali both created fairly poor works centered around this image of a Tesseract (also known as a 'hypercube').
If you, yourself have Too Much Free Time (as I do), I suggest you build yourself a three-dimensional hypercube (as I did). It is simple, with little time needed. What makes it important is when you consider the final result. Look at it. Touch it. Rub it all over yourself. Then attempt to grasp the concept that the solid, three-dimensional object in front of you is nothing more than a shadow of an actual four-dimensional cube (in much the same way as a square is the shadow of a three-dimensional cube).
Let that idea sink in, fully. After that, you probably will need a good lie-down for a while. As I did.
A Tesseract is a simple three-dimensional cube, protracted into four dimensions. An 'unfolded' Tesseract (in three dimensions) looks like four cubes stacked one of top of each other, with a single cube on each side of the second tier. Human author Robert A. Heinlein and human painter Salvador Dali both created fairly poor works centered around this image of a Tesseract (also known as a 'hypercube').
If you, yourself have Too Much Free Time (as I do), I suggest you build yourself a three-dimensional hypercube (as I did). It is simple, with little time needed. What makes it important is when you consider the final result. Look at it. Touch it. Rub it all over yourself. Then attempt to grasp the concept that the solid, three-dimensional object in front of you is nothing more than a shadow of an actual four-dimensional cube (in much the same way as a square is the shadow of a three-dimensional cube).
Let that idea sink in, fully. After that, you probably will need a good lie-down for a while. As I did.
