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The comparison to children playing with blocks makes me wonder: If you spent long enough playing with these 4D toys, would you develop a deeper intuition for th
by jbinney 6y ago
The comparison to children playing with blocks makes me wonder: If you spent long enough playing with these 4D toys, would you develop a deeper intuition for the 4th dimensional shape of the objects?
- kmill 6y agoI've played with some programs I made to explore 4D objects, and, yes, you do gain some intuition. Interestingly, I was told one of George Boole's daughters got lessons from a guy on 4D objects by using colored wooden blocks. She really picked it up, and later in life mathematicians would consult her about intersections of 4D polytopes.
- hinkley 6y agoIf you haven't read Mimsy Were the Borogroves, you should. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimsy_Were_the_Borogoves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimsy_Were_the_Borogoves
- robocat 6y agoThat would be a perfect application of VR. I’m sure most of us could learn a visceral understanding of 4D if we could push and twist 4D objects.
- dehrmann 6y agoSort of, but not really. The problem is you don't have sufficient information to know what should happen.