Properties of Metaphysics and Parapsychology?

[Rhineowion]

Hi, everyone. I'm new here, and a high school student, so try to please salve the insatiable voracity for ripping apart threads with scrutiny for the heresy "Intelligent Design" articles one may stumble upon; I'm admittedly a tyro.

 

 

 

I want to broach Metaphysics, because the field is one that I hold as an experiential sentiment. I "claim" (trying to keep the crude skepticism at bay) to shoulder both voluntary and involuntary relationships with that of clairsentience, claircognizance, past life regression, aural capacities, healing capacities, blah blah blah blah blah blah...

 

 

 

Essentially, I was contemplating the absolute existence of dimensions: Are the current theoretical and vague higher dimensions (that which could be considered anything beyond the indubitable spacetime) gateways to the laws and properties of that which is, or has been, predestined in science as "fairytale?" I do understand that this harsh assertion is not fostered by everyone, but there is no current evidentiary support or "groundbreaking" law that I can comfortably rest my head upon, in assurance that my feelings are supported with knowledge.

 

To speak in terms of physics, if one is on Physical Plane A and wants to transcend (or travel like Bart Simpson through a wormhole, if Brian Greene is your kind of man) to Physical Plane B, would not a Metaphysical Plane exist betwixt? That's not really the image I wanted to depict, but... If dimensions are universal, is it possible that they do exist more strongly in certain planes than others; or, perhaps, is our evolutionary process starting off at one end of dimensional spectrum (the most feasible and reachable - that of spacetime) and begrudgingly encroaching the lesser known? As we feebly attempt to ravel our minds around the String Theory and M-Theory and elements of Quantum Physics, could we be inadvertently decoding the fabrics of the Metaphysical Universe?

 

I wish to believe blindly (although not for long, I yearn) that this is the case, and that even that which is not applicable with our current sensory detail consists of the same properties that govern our known Universe. I see telepathy and mediumship and such being constructed of particles and laws and guidelines. I think that work with Quantum Physics will lead us to the nexus of dimensional comprehension.

 

Are there any thoughts on this, or experiences; or rather, people who could lead me in a beneficial direction?

Edited October 24, 2008 by Rhineowion

[iNow]

So, like a subspace or similiar which could allow things not currently part of standard physics? Some "other dimension" for lack of a better word that connects us?

[Edtharan]

Are the current theoretical and vague higher dimensions (that which could be considered anything beyond the indubitable spacetime) gateways to the laws and properties of that which is, or has been, predestined in science as "fairytale?"

This is a common misconception about higher dimensions, popularised by bad science fiction stories.

 

Now as 3 dimensions are higher than 2 dimensions, lets use an analogy of a 2 dimensional being proposing a higher 3rd dimension. In geometry a "Plane" is actually a 2 dimensional surface, so this analogy is pretty good as analogies go.

 

Now this 2 Dimensional Metaphysicist, proposes that there exists a Higher Plane (2 dimensional surface) that exists above them on the hypothetical 3rd dimension.

 

You might even picture this as an upper story to a house. These 2D "Flatties" might live on the ground floor, and the Metaphysicist Flatty is talking about the second level of the house.

 

But, what would lead this Metaphysicist Flatty to think that the physics of that second level of the house to think that the rules of physics are different, just because it is higher in the 3rd dimension.

 

We don't see the laws of physics change when we ride in a lift.

 

Dimensions are not stacked upon each other like cards in a deck, dimensions are always are at 90 degrees to every other dimension.

 

So to answer your question directly: The thing that exists between planes in a higher dimension is that higher dimension, it is not something outside of space time or a source of "fairytale".

 

If dimensions are universal, is it possible that they do exist more strongly in certain planes than others

"planes" are described by dimensions, so dimensions can't exist in planes.

 

Dimensions are just directions that are perpendicular (at 90 degrees) to all other directions.

 

For instance:

Forward and backwards describes a single dimension (1 dimensional). So what direction lies at 90 degrees (perpendicular) to this direction (hint: there are actually at least 3). The first two are easy: Side to side or up and down (and note that they are also at right angles/90 degrees/perpendicular to each other as well).

 

It takes a bit of maths (which I don't know well enough to present and is complicated anyway), but there is another Dimension that is at right angles too all 3 of those directions/dimensions as well: Time.

 

To show this requires understanding of how light moves, but as a simplified (ie not exactly right but good enough to help you understand - but is still complicated anyway) explanation:

 

The maths of how light propagates means that it must travel in a type of straight line called a Geodesic. This is a type of straight line that if viewed only in a local frame of reference (as if you were travelling on the light beam yourself - not that you could ) is always a straight line and conforms to the Euclidean (as if drawn of a piece of paper) notion of a straight line (part of which states that parallel straight lines can never cross).

 

However, this is where Geodesics differ from the Euclidean straight line. Under A Geodesic, although locally lines conform to the Euclidean rules, the surface can deform and "warp". This leads to strange effects.

 

For one:

In Euclidean geometry, you can never have a triangle (3 straight lines that intersect at 3 points) where the Angles formed add up to more or less than 180 degrees. This is a good experiment to try on a piece of paper: See if you can draw a triangle that the angles add up to more or less than 180 degrees (Hint: you can't do it).

 

But under Geodesics (also known an Non Euclidean Geometry), this rules does not hold. It is possible to have a triangle that the angles add up to more or less than 180 degrees.

 

If you don't believe me then try it for yourself:

The surface of a basket ball is a good example of a non Euclidean Space.

 

Take 3 pieces of string, some sticky tape and a protractor (you know those things form school that you use to measure angles with).

 

First take one of the pieces of string and stick it to the basket ball. Then stretch the string out and stick it to another place on the basket ball. This forms the first side of the triangle.

 

Next, take the second piece of string and tape one end exactly on one of the ends of the first piece of string. Now tape the loose end some where else on the ball (make sure to stretch the string tight). This forms the second side of the triangle.

 

Take the third piece of string and tape one end to the free end of the second piece of string and then tape the last end back onto the first string to that the 3 pieces form a triangle.

 

Finally, measure and add up the 3 angles and you will find that they add up to more than 180 degrees.

 

But this is a triangle! All 3 lines are straight, you can measure them with a ruler, plus a piece of string stretched tight between only two points will be straight.

 

Welcome to the world of non Euclidean space.

 

The strings don't form Straight lines in Euclidean Space, but are the type of straight line called a Geodesic.

 

Now as I said earlier, light travels along Geodesics. This means we can detect "warps" in space-time by looking to see if two parallel lines either cross or diverge. By charting these Geodesic lines through a region of space, we can determine the shape of the space.

 

Round space, like a ball, creates spaces where parallel lines converge. Funnel shaped spaces create parallel lines that diverge (except if they go either side of the funnel, then they converge).

 

It turns out that gravity makes funnel shaped warps in space-time, we can see this due to certain galaxies cause light from a galaxy behind it to converge (remember either side of a funnel causes parallel lines to converge), but light that only passes just off to the side causes the light rays to diverge.

 

However, there is a slight problem. If we use just 3 dimensions of space to chart the warps that gravity causes by drawing the geodesics, then it doesn't quite match up. For the geodesic to match up to what we really see, there actually has to be another dimension that gravity is warping: A 4th Dimension.

 

This is direct proof of higher dimensions.

 

Although this mapping of warps using geodesics tells us that there is a higher dimension, it doesn't actually tell us what that dimension actually is. Through other experiments and theories, it can be shown that the other dimension has to be Time. The main reason is that objects that move through these warps experience a warp to their time as well as their space (the speed of atomic clocks changes - they run slower in stronger gravity).

 

Now the important thing about geodesics is that at the local level, they always are the same as a Euclidean straight line. In the warp due to gravity, this means that for someone standing next to the clock, it does not appear to be running slow, but for someone far away from the gravity it will appear to be running slow (as will you).