As 3D becomes more prevalent within our media, we start to wonder, what’s next? But for me, I have been more fascinated with the theories of the Fourth Dimension. The fourth dimension is sometimes referred to as time, but when you begin to look at why, it gets extremely scientific. As interesting as it might be to me, it would prove boring to the average person. I have always considered the fourth dimension would have to be visible to the eye, much like the other dimensions before it. This has sparked many a creative idea for me to implement into stories. First I will talk about my concept of the fourth dimension, then on to travelling in the fourth dimension, seeing the fourth dimension and ending off with a few implementations of my ideas in story arcs.

The fourth dimension to me is indeed based around the concept of time. As all other dimensions make use of a coordinate system, I would imagine that the fourth dimension would require a set as well. Making use of the scale of time in which we measure would work as we make an effort to keep it consistent, however in practical application this is inaccurate as we try and figure out leap years and day light savings time. So if a three dimensional object is made up of points on it’s surface as well as within it’s volume, then the fourth dimension would measure the points involved on a three dimensional object, however throughout time. For example: If we were tracking my heart as a singular point, and mark it as (0,0,0) of my body at the moment I was formed, then it would exist from an estimated nine months before my birth on May 4, 1985. If we could figure out the exact moment my heart came into being, we would call that the origin of my existence. From there, my body would be able to be tracked within the confines of our infinite universe from that point to anywhere in time using my global position, the position of our planet in the universe and the distance between my origin and my current location. If you tried to track my origin before I was born, it should return null before I was born and after my death.

So with that crazy concept in mind, lets look at travelling through time. Time travel is always touchy. They say if you go back and affect even the tiniest detail, you could upset the balance completely. As time travel is one of those highly debated topics among nerd groups, many theories have come into play. Here’s my idea. Everything in the past has happened already, so you cannot change it at all. Going back to kill Hitler would be a futile attempt, so clear that off your list of things to do. As soon as you move your coordinate beyond either of your existing points of origin, you would become null. You cannot exist beyond your own point of existence.

A number line continues on to infinity, while our lives are short pieces of a time line. But since two points cannot be completely identical on a timeline, you wouldn’t be able to travel on your own timeline either. This sadly rules out the concept of time travel. If you were able to create a fully working copy of yourself in history, then that being would effectively have their origin set to that point and when they cease to exist on that time line they would gain another end to their existence. Hard to take in, but consider this: I would be ending my existence here if i wanted to travel through time, to recreate myself in a new era. Even if I could change to a new era, or return to an exact point in history, it would not be the same as my previous existence. It wouldn’t be so much time travel as alternate reality hopping. I would never be able to return to the same point in time. If we wanted to actually time travel there is probably an infinite number of coordinates we would need to go back and forth with no changes.

Okay, even my mind is hurting after reading that so I’ll do my attempt at explaining how I imagine seeing the fourth dimension. If we had a tool like glasses, that could see the fourth dimension, you would see everything that has happened in relation to your position within the universe throughout time ad infinitum. You probably wouldn’t be able to see anything, because so much has happened in the universe. Think of it like this. If you sat in a park, things happen around you. Dogs run by, people walk by, the sun rises and sets, clouds, weather, and many other possibilities. Now picture that for every nanosecond that the dog is moving, he is travelling and his points move through the dimensions. If you were to examine his path in the universe, it would be a dog shaped squiggle from his conception to the moment he dies. Every point within his volume (including fur attached to him) would have coordinates involving his position in the universe and the time stamp if we were to measure it. Things can nestle within him, such as tape worms, fleas, and many other parasites and various other objects, but most of those would either modify the actual points around it or replace points within him. So being able to see the fourth dimension would involve every thing that has existed at that point in the universe for all of time as far back and as far forward as possible.

Now that I’ve offloaded my concepts of the fourth dimension, I will toss out some of the ways I would love to incorporate the fourth dimension into a story. I would leave out some things because as I am no scientist, I know for a fact I am not correct, it is entirely implausible.

Story Concept One: So imagine a man normal as can be, gets himself into an accident set in the modern day. As he emerges from the wreckage of his car, he finds that the world is completely filled with light and he is standing within it. He believes he is dead and in Heaven and his story is over. But his eyes are drawn to a car from the 1920’s and it is hurdling toward him, seemingly unaware of his existence. As is impulse, he leaps from it’s path and finds the light is gone and he is back on the road he crashed on. As he turns to examine the wreckage of his vehicle, he finds it no where to be found. Suddenly another vehicle pulls up and a group of men grab him and take him into the city. As he is interrogated, he finds out that throughout all of history there has been a secret society protecting the past for the future. These people are highly trained and decide that since he is an unauthorized citizen in a different time he cannot be returned to his own future. They attempt to destroy him, but he manages to escape and begins his efforts trying to return to his own time. As it is near impossible to focus on just one thing that may be in your time, he finds himself destroying both past and future and becoming a fugitive of the self proclaimed protectors of time.

Story Concept Two: A bit tamer, but doesn’t link to time travel. A woman psychologist is brought in to talk to a man who says he can see everything that has happened in time where he is. He can see dinosaurs, and the end of the world, the evolution of species and the extinction of humans. As the psychologist begins to believe in his rantings, she finds herself attempting to abuse the man’s gifts for her own gains. As she helps him escape the psych ward, they manage to stay two steps ahead of the authorities as she fights to discover what really happened between her mother and father and discover where her family truly came from.

Story Concept Three: A woman grows up told that she has multiple personality disorder. As she begins to discuss this with her other self, she realizes that they are two beings travelling the exact same paths in existence. As the two attempt to figure out a way to separate she finds herself trying a governmental test project to separate multiple personalities from their hosts. When the project seemingly fails, both girls find themselves removed from their body but seemingly stuck in a limbo where time stands still. As the two explore and fight to return to the world they are both familiar with, they must overcome their differences and learn to live with each other if they have any hopes of surviving.

So I hope you’ve enjoyed the concepts I tossed out here, if you stopped by for the theory or are here for the stories, I hope you’ll kindly leave a comment below. Or feel free to email me! Thanks for reading once again and have a good one!