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Hello! I was recently thinking about dimensions and the concept of nonexistence and I was wondering if there is something akin to a "negative spatial dimension". Dimensions seem to be counted in sets of positive integers like "1, 2, 3" and so on. But could some form of dimension be counted with a set of negative integers?
If "1" (existence) is the presence of something, and "0" (nonexistence) is the absence of something, would "-1" ("inexistence"?) be some kind of antithesis of said existing "1"?
I hope I'm making at least some sense...
For example, if John had 7 apples (existence) and you took those 7 away, then there would be none left (nonexistance)...but what if you kept taking nonexistent apples away somehow? Say you took 7 more apples away from the nonexistance. Would you be left with 7 "inexistent apples"/"anti-apples" that are not made of 3 spatial dimensions but -3 spatial dimensions?
I understand that we don't see anything like this in the real world as there is no magnitude less than zero, but in some mathematical sense, could it be done? I should also say that I've never personally encountered anything like this in fiction either, so wondering about "negative dimensions" might only ever ammount to being a pointless thought experiment. Although, I could see this possibly relating to "void manipulation" in some way.
On a related note, could you have non-integer/fractional dimensions? Such as a 3.74 or 13.484 dimensional object??
Perhaps I simply lack understanding on dimensions or maybe I'm looking at them from the wrong perspective. I'm probably treating dimensions too much like actual numbers and not enough like a physical phenomenon. I really don't know, I just wanted to see what other people on this website thought about this. I've been to other parts of the internet to try and find answers and I seem to get a lot of conflicting responses.
This might seem like a nonsensical question or frivolous speculation, and if it is, I'm sorry for wasting time. Maybe I should go to a different website to ask about this...
EDIT: I guess that even if there was a -3D being it wouldn't be superior to a 3D being as they both have values of "3". So negative dimensions would likely still be superior to 0D beings as the negative dimensions still hold a value. I guess that makes this question all the more pointless. Sorry.
If "1" (existence) is the presence of something, and "0" (nonexistence) is the absence of something, would "-1" ("inexistence"?) be some kind of antithesis of said existing "1"?
I hope I'm making at least some sense...
For example, if John had 7 apples (existence) and you took those 7 away, then there would be none left (nonexistance)...but what if you kept taking nonexistent apples away somehow? Say you took 7 more apples away from the nonexistance. Would you be left with 7 "inexistent apples"/"anti-apples" that are not made of 3 spatial dimensions but -3 spatial dimensions?
I understand that we don't see anything like this in the real world as there is no magnitude less than zero, but in some mathematical sense, could it be done? I should also say that I've never personally encountered anything like this in fiction either, so wondering about "negative dimensions" might only ever ammount to being a pointless thought experiment. Although, I could see this possibly relating to "void manipulation" in some way.
On a related note, could you have non-integer/fractional dimensions? Such as a 3.74 or 13.484 dimensional object??
Perhaps I simply lack understanding on dimensions or maybe I'm looking at them from the wrong perspective. I'm probably treating dimensions too much like actual numbers and not enough like a physical phenomenon. I really don't know, I just wanted to see what other people on this website thought about this. I've been to other parts of the internet to try and find answers and I seem to get a lot of conflicting responses.
This might seem like a nonsensical question or frivolous speculation, and if it is, I'm sorry for wasting time. Maybe I should go to a different website to ask about this...
EDIT: I guess that even if there was a -3D being it wouldn't be superior to a 3D being as they both have values of "3". So negative dimensions would likely still be superior to 0D beings as the negative dimensions still hold a value. I guess that makes this question all the more pointless. Sorry.
