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Article: Four dimensions is just so old-fashioned.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- March 10, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Bill Tammeus
The human brain is a marvelous computer.
My own brain, for instance, often can distinguish the ring of the phone on my bedside table from the ring of my alarm clock next to it. The result is that when a phone call awakens me, I answer the alarm clock no more than 34 percent of the time.
My brain also tells me so accurately which of my two children and four stepchildren are in my presence that I call each of them by the wrong name only 26 percent of the time.
Despite its admirable precision, however, my brain often has trouble imagining what modern science is up to. Take, for instance, the concept of dimensions. I ...