But what was his reply? 'You
say I am "high"; measure my "high-ness" and I will believe you.' What
could I do? How could I meet his challenge? I was crushed; and he
left the room triumphant.
"Does this still seem strange to you? Then put yourself in a
similar position. Suppose a person of the Fourth Dimension,
condescending to visit you, were to say, 'Whenever you open your eyes,
you see a Plane (which is of Two Dimensions) and you _infer_ a Solid
(which is of Three); but in reality you also see (though you do not
recognize) a Fourth Dimension, which is not colour nor brightness nor
anything of the kind, but a true Dimension, although I cannot point
out to you its direction, nor can you posssibly measure it.' What
would you say to such a visitor? Would not you have him locked up?
Well, that is my fate: and it is as natural for us Flatlanders to
lock up a Square for preaching the Third Dimension, as it is for you
Spacelanders to lock up a Cube for preaching the Fourth. Alas, how
strong a family likeness runs through blind and persecuting humanity
in all Dimensions! Points, Lines, Squares, Cubes, Extra-Cubes -- we
are all liable to the same errors, all alike the Slavers of our
respective Dimensional prejudices, as one of our Spaceland poets has
said --
'One touch of Nature makes all worlds akin.
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