I seek friends in non-Euclidian Spaces

I've often see it mentioned in conjunction with Cthulhu mythos writing, but I must admit, that I have a shameful lack of knowledge of non-Euclidian geometry. I have to admit, just the mention of non-Euclidian space is very evocative and tends to twist my brain into a hyperbolic manifold. I've never been particularly good at understanding the complexities of the higher mathematics, but I must admit that I am quite fascinated by them, even if they completely elude my mental gasp. Oh, how I wish that the abstractions of such concepts would coalesce in my brain. But alas, I think I'm too unfocused for such feats of logic. Ah well...

At any rate, I've been wondering just what the heck it would mean to interact with a non-Euclidian space. It is a very slippery concept in my brain. I'm a very visual person, so unless I can somehow visualize a concept, I'm essentially blind. I did a bit of roaming around the Interwebs trying to find some visual representations to help me better grasp the concept. Cabinet Magazine has an interesting article on the subject and a rather interesting representation of a hyperbolic plane represented through crochet. Clifford Singer is a painter that has some rather more two dimensional representations of a decidedly non-two dimensional concept. And of course, there is always the tesseract or hypercube.

I'm interested in trying to incorporate some non-Euclidian concepts into my gaming experience (although I fear it WILL drive me mad trying to conceptualize it). Has anyone else utilized these concepts in their gaming? I'd be interested in hearing about it. Also, if you know of any sites or texts on the subject that are layman friendly, I'd be interested in that as well.

Comments

  1. KevinMarch 3, 2011 at 1:12 PM

    Likely not the greatest thread on the subject, but one I'm familiar with:

    http://www.yog-sothoth.com/threads/9980-Multidmensinal-non-euclidian-goodness

    My part in the discussion is under the pseudonym keeperodie

    ReplyDelete
  2. PorkyMarch 3, 2011 at 1:25 PM

    Go for it! We need more of this kind of thing, whatever it is..! I wish I could help. I did a post a while back on how psychic powers might be understood as extensions of the individual in other dimensions, but that would be way to prosaic for what you're talking about. I hope you keep us in the loop about where this goes. Excellent post title too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. trollsmythMarch 3, 2011 at 1:42 PM

    There were a few articles written for early DRAGON issues about using hypercubes in dungeons. I don't remember the actual issue numbers off the top of my head, but they mostly revolved around using the hypercube as something of a trap, since trying to go out the north end would only have you returning through the south end.

    If you want to read some neat musings on how four-dimensional beings might interact with our three-dimensional universe, I recommend Pickover's Surfing Through Hyperspace which covers such interesting topics as what a four-dimensional being might look like as it attempts to enter our universe, what they could do once they got here, and why they might be interested in coming here. It gets pretty wacky at the end, but before then, it's chock full of gold.

    ReplyDelete
  4. migellitoMarch 3, 2011 at 5:05 PM

    I've put my players in non-euclidean places many times over the years. Often, less is more when describing these situations. I knew I was on the right track when they'd look at me worriedly and say "but.. that's impossible!"

    You could do worse than http://www.mcescher.com/ for a good starting point :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. XyanthonMarch 3, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    Excellent! Thanks to all! This was exactly the type of response I was hoping for. Now, I've got some more research to do. And Porky, I fully intend on putting together something for this. I'm actually working on a few things (Warrens of Polstrus Lev, the Basalt Keep of Wilven the Yellow, Blasphemer's Isle for the Sea of O'sr). Each of this will be affected in some way by non-Euclidian concepts.

    ReplyDelete

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