TED-Ed - Flatland

I was invited to collaborate with TED-Ed to create an animation to introduce the novella "Flatland" by Edwin A. Abbott. I was responsible for all aspects of design, animation, and execution.

David Housden shared his amazing score from the Thomas was Alone video game. Check out his website and listen to the rest of his amazing work!

[mmchig]

this is most likely what bill cipher's dimension looked like

[garryghastopulous]

"Your brother is expendable"
- A Sphere 2999

[NoMoreHeroesAnymore]

Skip this and watch the 2007 film. It will take a few repeat viewings but when it "clicks' it will be in some minor yet important ways utterly life changing.

[Chamomile.Tea]

1:54 Oh boy. I sure hope this “little boost” doesn’t cause any chaotic, cataclysmic doomsday to a whole dimension. Or anything.

[rainierk_]

This was a film that my math teacher in middle school showed us. I remember one particular scene that felt straight up like an acid trip.

[MegaDude]

This story/concelpt has become significantly more popular thanks to the funny Illuminati triangle man.

[vrzen]

"You think those chains are tight? Imagine living in the second dimension. Flat minds in a flat world with flat dreams. I liberated my dimension, Stanford, and I'm here to liberate yours."
- Bill Cipher

[ShinglesDoesntcare]

A Square: I need an adult!

A Sphere: I AM an adult.

[valmid]

“Do you know what spawned your existence?”


*“EDWIN ABBOTT ABBOTT HAD A GOOD IDEA”* -Bill Cipher AMA, Disney’s Gravity Falls

[chrissorreda]

I feel sad for people who have the "That's impossible because i can't comprehend it" attitude. That guy lost his sense of imagination, wonder, and awe.

[ChimeraRobot]

why do i feel like alex hirsch saw this while coming up with bills origin

[Nastgardaren]

I have thought about the possible direction of the 4th dimension (in relation to our 3D space) for a very long time and this is what I think:
In the same way as a funnel hole in the 2D plane of the flatlanders would lead down the 3rd direction (downward) and pull them closer and cause them to fall down into it if they got too close, our world works in the same way with gravity and the curvature of space-time. high gravity areas, such as black holes and large bodies of mass such as planets and stars are bottoms of pits that curves into the 4th dimension. The stronger gravitational pull, the steeper the hole/funnel/pit. So we can visualise the 4th dimension as inward and outward, where we are on a flat plane with occassional pits where there are strong gravitational pull. English is not my first language, so I'm sorry for any misspellings and wrong sentencing.

[SimplyTooCool]

Bill cipher be destroying euclidya with this one 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[brandonfleming]

I read FLATLAND years ago but listened to it as an AUDIOBOOK last week to remind myself of key concepts. This video was a wonderful addition to the FLATLAND lore. This book is a seed-idea that will one day blossom into the cornerstone of something great!

[Balletcalvero]

I just finished reading Flatland. It was a fascinating story. I highly recommend it.

[PuffyNutty]

I have been invested in this topic for several years, and to me, it’s somewhat simple to comprehend how our world would appear like if we were to look into it from the fourth dimension.

We see life in 2d. And that will stay true no matter what, even if (as was mentioned by the video) a 4d hypercube were to take us into 4d space. This means we can still imagine ourselves looking into our 3d world from 4d space.We would basically be seeing a fragment of our 3d world.

Imagine a whole, uncut pie. In your 3d world, you cannot see inside the pie. But if you were moved to the fourth dimension, you would be able to see a fragment of the space inside the pie as a 2d image.

This 2d image would look like you took a very thin slice out of the pie. By very thin, I mean INFINITELY thin. And then, you would directly look at the slice from the side. This is what the uncut pie would look like if you were to gaze at it from 4d space; a fragment of the space occupied by the pie.

I would like to say that this is NOT how a 4d being would see our world, but how we 3d beings would see our world looking at it from 4d space. We only see fragments of it. 4d beings see everything.

[sibjamchoe]

“Doesnt this blow your little spherical mind?” I’m floored.This line alone has a piercing realisation to it (no pun intended).

[rooploverence]

This is actually a really sad story because at the end (SPOILERS FOR FLATLAND WARNING) the square gets arrested for being a "madman"

[tim]

Sphere: nice day I lov-
Hyper cube:AYE WHATS ALL THIS THAN AYE MATE ID LOVE ME SOME FOUR DEMENSIONAL TEA AND CRUMPETS AYE LAD?

[ismaelmacias]

I'm intrigued by things like this, but It makes my brain hurts to think about it.