By: Anwitha Sriramoju
Understanding the Fourth Dimension:
What if you could step outside the flow of time and witness every moment of your life all at once? That's what the fourth dimension is about. As humans, we are only able to access as far as the third dimension where time is linear and we can only move forward. However, if we were able to access the fourth dimension, which is time, it would mean that we are able to perceive all our past, present, and future. In the fourth dimension, all moments are simultaneous, but it doesn't mean that an individual will experience every moment simultaneously. Rather, they would be able to observe every experience, meaning time is static.
This is the backbone of the block theory. Imagine the block theory as a cube consisting of 3-D characteristics like height, width, and depth but also including every moment in the universe, from the past to the future. The past hasn’t disappeared, and the future hasn’t “yet to happen,” but rather everything exists, equal and fixed.
Time Travel and its Limitations:
The fourth dimension is often portrayed as something that can be manipulated for time travel, but that raises questions. If block theory is true, moving back in time suggests that time isn’t static, which contradicts all moments being fixed. The grandfather paradox further implies that time travel is impossible. If a person traveled back and prevented their grandparents from meeting, they would never be born and couldn’t prevent the meeting in the first place.
Another barrier is general relativity, which explains that space and time are like a stretchy fabric bent by massive objects. This curve affects movement and slows time. Closed time-like curves are concepts created from general relativity and they allow time manipulation, but these loops only work in extreme conditions. Scientists haven’t found a way to travel through these forces, so with current technology, time travel is not possible.
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