How come we are not visited by stuff from other dimensions?

Question

Suppose you would live in a two-dimensional world, a Flatland, like along a sheet of paper, having no experience of a third space dimension, just like we have no experience of a fourth space dimension. Then you would sometimes get completely unexpected visits from the third space dimension, like for example when somebody writes on the paper, tears or cuts it into pieces or puts it to fire. You would never see the danger coming, as your sight works only along the sheet. Still, you might lose a loved one because he or she was some inches away from you when the paper was cut. Physicists say there are more than three space dimensions. If that is true, how come we are not similarly surprisingly torn apart by objects, maybe some equivalent of asteroids or other stuff, that move in the fourth and higher space dimensions, thus unabling us to ever see the danger coming before it's already here? Is there no matter moving in the fourth and higher space dimensions, or what is the explanation?

Answer 1

The thing is, the second dimension is not a piece of paper.

Since something that is two-dimensional has only "length and height" it has no width. In other words, it is thinner than infinitely thin, and therefore cannot be observed or interacted with by anything in the third dimension.

This also applies the same way to third- and fourth-dimensional interactions, considering that the fourth dimension is time.
Hope this helps.

Answer 2

We may be visited by forces at least from higher dimensions. Gravity, according to string/M theory, is far weaker than the theory predicts. One answer to this discrepancy is that some of that gravity, the gravitons, exists in those higher dimensions. That it, the gravitons spend some portion of their time-space existence in the higher planes and some of their time-space on our four D world. [See source.]

Further, string/M theory proponents, some of them, also suggest the big bang occurred when two parallel universes collided. The collision changed the momenta of the two universes, which let loose the almost unimaginable energy we call the big bang in our universe. What they call it in the other universe is not known at this time.

Anyway, if the universal collision hypothesis is correct, then the stuff that matter is made of, energy, was transferred from one universe to another (ours). And, as there is a reaction for every action, energy from our little place we call home was transferred to the neighboring universe as well.

Answer 3

hmm, what floodfrog said was really interesting. it's sort of like the circle with an infinite circumference becomes an infinite line. or maybe it's not that at all, i don't know... back to the point!

well, i would consider something like the big bang the result of another dimension. with our hyper concept of time, it seems like there should have been something else since then. but then again, time is only imagined.

i also generally blame all of my problems on other dimensions.

Answer 4

Who says we don't encounter otherdimensional stuff?

That said, the universe is mostly empty space; the probability of us being in the path of such interference is much smaller than the probability of us not being there.

Read Flatland if you haven't already; it makes n-space easily comprehensible.

Answer 5

Probably the same reason we don't get visited by Martians - they don't exist.

Suppose we live in a world in which ghosts exist - why don't we get visited by ghosts? Because they don't exist.

Suppose we live in a world in which entities exist in other dimensions - why don't we get visited by entities from the other dimensions? Because they don't exist.