clifford_a-_pickover_surfing_through_hyperspacebookfi-org

30 surfing through hyperspace
Figure 2.5 A square and his wife in Flatland, trying to get some privacy in a locked
room, when suddenly, seemingly from out of nowhere, a sphere penetrates their
space.
that the sphere enters the square's room without having to open any
doors" (Fig. 2.5).
Sally smiles. "That was rude of the sphere."
"Maybe not. The sphere has come to teach the square about the third
dimension."
You reach for Sally's hand. "There would be no privacy for us either. If
a 4-D being wanted to, it could come into our room during a romantic
interlude" (Fig. 2.6).
Sally pushes your hand away. "Sir, our relationship is strictly professional."
You nod as your gaze shifts to the wall where you have a photo of former
president Bill Clinton proudly saluting the American flag. You sigh
and return to your lecture. "A 4-D man could reach into any sealed
rooms or containers. This being would never have to touch the walls of
the container just as we could reach inside a hollow, square vault in Flatland
and remove an object. The 4-D being could steal money from a safe
without trying to open the door; in fact, the safe might seem like a box
with no top or bottom. A 4-D surgeon could reach inside your body
without breaking your skin, steal your brain without cracking your skull
(Fig. 2.7). Just as we could see every side of a square simultaneously as
well as the insides of a square, a 4-D being could see all of our sides
simultaneously; see the insides and outsides of your lungs and run his