| A mathematician believes that planes are 3-D |
| Adapted for the Internet from: Why God Doesn't Exist |
Summary
Relativists invoke planes to introduce the uninitiated into the world of General Relativity. Specifically,
they use planes to contrast our 3-D universe against Abbott’s world of Flatland. The flat world of planes
helps the neophyte visualize and contrast dimensional aspects of planes versus solids.
So what is a plane? Is a plane an idealized figure? Is it a figure? A real object? An abstract object? Do
planes exist? Is the plane the same thing as a surface? Does a plane have two dimensions? If not, how
many dimensions does it have? Do we have any use for planes in Physics?
It turns out that a mathematician talks about the 2-D world of Flatland, yet the scenarios he describes
are without exception 3-D. A mathematician also constructs his circles dynamically and claims that a
triangle has curved angles. He also tells you that he builds a cube by scanning a square. And so on.
How can the mathematicians assert that our Universe is four-dimensional when they don't even
understand the two-dimensional world of Flatland? The mathematicians never learned the first lesson
of planes: there is no such thing as a standalone plane. A 2-D geometric figure is necessarily part of a
solid!
The misconceived definition of the word plane conduces the mathematicians to irrational conclusions.
Here I explore the infamous plane of Mathematics to get to the bottom of perhaps the most
misunderstood category of figures in Geometry. Specifically, I investigate the two planes that cause so
much confusion to the mathematicians: the triangle and the circle.
- Module main page: Mathematics is not the language of Physics
This page: A mathematician believes that planes are 3-D
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- Last modified 01/18/08
- Copyright © by Nila Gaede 2008
| 2-D? Are you sure, Dr. Einstein? It seems to me that the little fellow is 3-D. |