In Praise of Flatland

To the late Carl Sagan, to Sufi mystics, to pimpled fans of Star (anything). To me. What is this common denominator of which so many ponder, meditate, and ask about? A new direction. Just that. Very literally, a direction that we cannot, and perhaps never will traverse, no matter how hard we try. A direction that may, despite the convoluted premises of quantum field theory, end up nothing more than a pipe dream. This is the fascinating notion behind the belated title of Flatland -- the possibility of other dimensions. No, not time. This isn't about Einstein 101 and the Grandfather Paradox. But about other directions of space and the experiences a sentient, mortal, limited being may have when taken out of its natural "comfort zone" regarding number of mutually perpendicular lines drawn.

The Flatland synopsis -- there exists a universe of sorts, that is, to the inhabitants in it, perfectly flat. There are beings in this world. They go about their day, get in arguments, get married, argue while married, strive to go up the ladder, have their virtues and vanities, etc... In short, just as a shadow is a 2D projection of our physical selves, Flatlanders are a 2D projection of our mentality.

I will spare you the details of their anatomy (they're polygons, leave it at that), mode of living, and details of their everyday perception. Suffice it to say that through the intervention of a 3D being that, to Flatlanders, is nothing if not "divine", a member of this Flat World is boosted into God's View.

Freaking out initially, the Flatland protagonist comes to enlightenment unparalleled in history. Enlightenment unattainable by conventional methods of conversation, of thought, of prayer, or of anything else the Flatland universe could offer. Why? Because it is outside the Flatland reality. It is, quite literally, supernatural were the "natural" confined to the Flat Universe.

Consider looking "down" and seeing the inside of a polygon. Consider seeing things recede in the distance to a horizon. Consider how obvious such notions are to us. Now consider how truly incredible it would be if you, dear reader, were to be taken, by God knows what, into a... direction from which you could turn back and look at the world. Not from space. But in such a way that that the core of planet would be no less hidden than the center of a circle drawn on paper. I can't begin to describe what it would look like, and I doubt even Edwin Abbott himself could rise to the challenge.

Be reminded that this is not a treatise on geometry. This is a quick recap of our own limitations, of our being "confined to the box". How many times have you heard the phrase "think outside the box"? Too many, I bet. Fine, there's a bigger box no matter how far out you go. What now? Is there a way out? Yes, in theory. But it's in a way that cannot be described with words. Mathematical expressions perhaps, but not words. It's not up or down, but an "up" in such a way that would make one disappear from the box. I know of no name for it. And if I did, what would it matter, since the definition of it shoots to infinity in terms of conventional descriptions. There's no use in trying to explain this further. The Grandfather Paradox makes more conventional sense -- and here's an idea based on time travel.

The dichotomy of utter, abject fascination and the innate simplicity of a 3D reality makes one wonder. Makes one wonder about, obviously, the supernatural. About God. About the soul, the afterlife, nirvana, and every miracle that ever happened; to the extent one believes that such things do happen.

Is the miraculous simply the obvious in a slightly more complicated Universe? People wonder about God. Wars have been fought for God, empires and charities have moved the world more than the Sun's gravity due to God. Consider all conceptions of God -- He/She/It/We/Them/Us is somewhere... indescribable. Unknowable through any conventional means of "knowing". Unimaginable. Not even physical -- therefore "technically" not existing, but nevertheless real.

The lunacy of such beliefs taken on nothing but faith is too inane to go into. An obvious thread of the psychotic weaves through humanity's faiths. I mean, after all, how could God.. (insert any athei-gnostic argument).

Perhaps, no matter how insane it seems, but perhaps there was something to notions of the Divine. And perhaps the transcendental experiences of saviors, prophets, gurus and the like... Is nothing but a limited, momentary experience of rising, in some sense, into another dimension. But then, why the confusion, why the insanity, why the incredible outright stupidity of this or that superstition? Maybe the founders of faiths were just the right mix of delusion and charisma to hatch an enormous following that far outlasted their lives.

But then again, you try explaining "up" to a Flatland creature living on a piece of paper without being labeled a nut.

I see the deities of the world, and they're laughing frantically as we pretend to master the universe and ourselves while scurrying around so predictably on a piece of paper. I see them exasperated at our limited understanding of "the Truth" and how dense we must be to miss something as obvious as "up" is to ourselves. How limited our perspectives of not only what is possible, but what could conceivably be possible. How tragically small our understanding of reality, when it is nothing more than the understanding of an infinitely thin slice of reality.

Perhaps.

Or it's just clever fiction, nothing more. To accept such notions, or whatever you may entertain in the labyrinth of your minds, is to push reason to the limits, and to bring in the dangerous but powerful potion that is faith. What is most reasonable to us cannot be understood by the intellect, but only accepted because of a vision - what a perfect way to smash together the conflict of belief and logic.

"Even I -- who have been in Spaceland,
and have had the privilege of understanding for twenty-four hours
the meaning of 'height' -- even I cannot now comprehend it,
nor realize it by the sense of sight or by any process of reason;
I can but apprehend it by faith."
-- Main character of Flatland