4D cubes are a commonplace on the Internet and come in every color of the rainbow.
Back in the ’80s, I even built one myself on the ZX Spectrum (if that still means anything to anyone) using Basic. At first, the result was satisfying, but then it turned out to be somewhat disappointing. You only ever see six strangely distorted 3D cubes that oddly interpenetrate each other. It seems difficult to truly perceive 4D...
But what about the more fundamental question:
What would ordinary 3D objects, viewed with ordinary 3D eyes, look like if you could view them from a 4D location?
Douglas Phillips’ novel Quantum Space led me to this line of thought. To get started, let’s follow in the footsteps of Edwin Abbott. In his famous novella Flatland Abbott sensitively illustrates just how incredibly difficult it would be for 2D people to imagine the third dimension.
It remains to be considered whether a higher spatial dimension is merely mental gymnastics or whether they can exist—or even must exist? I’ve written an essay on the absurdity of the quantum world. Could 4D wormholes offer a way out of the dilemma of “spooky action at a distance” as Einstein put it?
When you try out the simulation, please proceed as slowly as possible for maximum effect. The simulation consists of six scenes. Try to fully understand everything in each scene. Read the accompanying text and experiment with all the parameter settings.