Flatland

[X3M]

I saw this movie about flat land.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyuNrm4VK2w

 

I find it interesting how 2D creatures would live in such a world.

 

Their vision.

Their anatomic.

Even their society.

 

(To bad that the end of the movie is an artistic dramatic $#!T.) But overall, funny and educational to watch.

 

I still don't understand how plants could/would function there.

 

Now, the strange part is that flatland is inside a 3D world. Thus the 3D can look down at 2D. But in reality, that would be impossible. Right?

 

Would 2D life really be possible?

 

---

 

I find the vision part fascinating:

 

Most people can't understand how a 1 dimensional line could be vision.

We see 2 dimensions, and depth because we use 2 eye's for a slight dis-configuration in the 2D fields. Which our brain turns into "3D" vision by combining 2 times 2 D visions (2 squares form a cube). But then again, I could say: "What do you see behind you?" Darkness? Nothingness? Or do you really simply not see it? It is not part of your vision, therefore it cannot be seen, nor can it not be seen. Yes, that is written correctly by what I want to say.

 

I think the same applies for 2D creatures seeing a 1D vision. They could have 2 eye's as well for seeing depth. Thus seeing 2 times 1D in a 2D universe. Combining 2 lines and thus seeing some sort of 2D. Still a line, but then with depth. How the vision is described in the movie is more like how chickens see depth. Moving back and forth creating different images. Where objects that are closer, have bigger differences than objects that are further away. And the brain puts them together, these images and differences. So I find it strange that the creator of the book only thought of a chicken type of vision, and not the kind of vision we have by using 2 eye's.

 

Ow, and if you wonder how people with 1 eye can see depth? They only can do it in a chicken way ;). It was invented by nature before the use of 2 eye's got combined... I think...

Well, I can know for sure.

 

What else could assist 2D creatures to see and tell what shapes things have?

[Nyerguds]

That movie is actually based on an 1884 sci-fi story of the same name.

http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~banchoff/Flatland/

On the subject of 3D sight... depth perception is perfectly possible with one eye, because of focus. Even a single eye has to focus for a specific depth, just like a camera. Some species with eyes without overlapping vision get their depth perception from focusing rapidly. That way, they can know how far things are just by checking which objects are sharp at which focus depth. So while they don't actually have the brain functions to process three-dimensional sight, they DO have depth perception, without needing 3D sight.

[X3M]

Well, there is a fundamental difference between focus-depth perception and 2 eye's-depth perception. Or else predators didn't have the 2 eye's in the front of their head.

[Nyerguds]

2-eye is just more efficient. Predators are all about speed. Prey species, in contrast, just need to be alerted to possible threats in time, so any movement detection will basically do, preferably with a radius that's as large as possible.