I am into Costume Business, not Costume Play!

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:54:58 GMT

What if all my post titles were, just, Monarch quotes? I'll tell you, I'm tempted to try it.

So, I watched the second to latest episode of Eureka ("Insane in the P-Brane") yesterday. I like the show, but... science-fiction can be astoundingly dumb sometimes, have you ever noticed? Some quick ponderings on that fact to follow.* You don't have to watch Eureka to know or care what I'm talking about — but if you do watch, there might be some spoilers...

Anyway, the episode was about inter-dimensional travel, and the characters getting trapped when they jump from the third dimension to the fifth. ...Am I really the only one to notice — or be annoyed by — how stupid this sounds? Because, first of all: the physical world we live in has four dimensions, not three. The fourth dimension is time. I mean, even I know that; and I'm far from a science wiz kid.

Second of all, the whole idea of "alternate dimensions" or inter-dimensional travel is utterly ridiculous. Because, hi? Dimensions are not worlds or planes of existence, or anything of that sort. A dimension is a concept of measurement, that's it. You can't be "in" a dimension, or go from one dimension to another like it's some sort of mystical other realm. That's no less silly than saying you're going to travel between subtraction and multiplication.

"Alternate reality" is the phrase they're looking for, probably (and I'm not defending nor disputing the possibility of those, here). Why is it that popular sci-fi so often confuses the two things? It's this kind of careless misinformation that I can't help thinking makes viewers/readers just that little bit dumber as a result. And Eureka? Is a show about the scientific frontier, and cultivating the best minds of our time... you'd think they might have some higher standards of basic accuracy.

I'm pretty sure they used the term "p-brane" incorrectly, too.**

* I'll say right now that it's entirely possible I don't know what I'm talking about. On the other hand, I do have a dad who's a high-level mathematician, and likes to talk about this stuff. I also checked on Wikipedia to make sure I wasn't just spouting nonsense. So... I hope I'm not? But if you have an opposing argument, do share.

** Which is a real thing, as it turns out.

...Completely Random

I am into Costume Business, not Costume Play!