Chapter 1 The First Dimension: Existence At A Point

To the cultures of both the ancient Chinese and the ancient Greeks and Romans, the number '1' was symbolic of the earliest humans first becoming consciously aware that things in nature exist, even though they might not be physically present at that very moment. Other animals do not have this ability, and it was at this stage, with the origin of a conscious mind, that mankind became different from the other animals.

The number '1' symbolizes a unity that cannot be subdivided, and does not symbolize a divisible pattern, or cycle, of nature. In the first dimension of the universe, there existed time, but space did not exist. Mankind is finite, as space is finite, and so mankind identifies with space first. In the first dimension of awareness, there was awareness of the existence of space, but there was no awareness of the existence of time.

In the first dimension of awareness, there was no awareness of any cycle of nature. Both time and space in the first dimension of awareness can be symbolized by the geometric point. This point is symbolized by the point that is located immediately in front of the eyes, the point of the 'here' in space and the point of the 'now' in time. There was no awareness of a past or of a future in time, only of the present, the now. There was no awareness of a there in space, only the here. Each awareness was of one point in time, the present, and one point in space, the here.

For both the ancient Chinese culture and the ancient Greek & Roman culture, the number '1' has come to symbolize a geometric point. In modern English, since the development of the number '0', there has been a tendency, which has not been universally applied, for '0' to symbolize the point. In geometry, the point symbolizes infinitely small, or nonexistent, space. In the first dimension of the universe, space was nonexistent. In the first dimension of awareness, awareness of time was nonexistent.

Each object in nature was recognized to be unique and unchanging. There was awareness of space, but there was no awareness of time, and so there could be no awareness of any change in objects in space, as change occurs over time. In the first dimension, everything that could be known about an object is known when it occupies the here, now.

1.1 Language In The '1'st Dimension

In the '1'st dimension, mankind developed the '1'st unit of meaning in language, the 'word'. There were as yet no 'phrases' or 'clauses'.

In the '1'st dimension of awareness, mankind developed the '1'st type of word in language, the 'noun'. There were as yet no 'adjectives' or 'verbs'. One dimensional nouns, proper nouns, symbolize each individual object that came to occupy the point of the here and now. Examples of proper nouns are nouns that refer to '1' object, such as 'Joe' and 'Bill'. The object of the here and now might be 'Joe', for example, or it might be 'Bill', in which case it would be 'not Joe'. The word 'no' developed in the first dimension of awareness, and Chinese has a word that is equivalent to 'no', but the need for 'yes' did not evolve until the second dimension, and Chinese has no equivalent to 'yes'.

There was awareness of existence other than what was at the point of the here and now, through the use of the one dimensional nouns of language, but there was no awareness of change in an object each time that it occupied the point of the here and now, as nothing could be remembered about an object from its name other than that the object exists.

The first dimension is the dimension of 'existence'. At the point of the here and now, any given object could either exist or not exist.

Language does not relate to points as they are defined in Euclidean geometry, as though they have no existence. For example, although a student of geometry can conceptualize a non-existent point inside of his head, when he symbolizes that point on paper, he does not draw 'nothing'. He draws a 'dot', which has length, and width, and depth. In other words, he does not draw a geometric point at all, but a linguistic point, which clearly has an existence.

1.2 Chinese In The '1'st Dimension

The Chinese called their awareness of the oneness of nature the 'Tao'. The word 'Tao' is pronounced like 'dow' in 'dowel', and not like 'tow' in 'towel'. The Chinese character for 'Tao', , has meanings such as 'path', 'road', or 'way'. A man known as 'Lao-zi' is considered to have been the founder of this 'science' of nature, which is known as 'Taoism'. The name Lao-zi translates into English as 'the ancient one', and is written in many ways in English, such as 'Lao Tsu'.

According to Lao-zi, in the beginning there existed only the Tao. The Tao gave rise to 1. The 1 gave rise to 2. The 2 gave rise to 3. And the 3 gave rise to all that exists. This represents a very profound understanding of the patterns of nature as symbolized by the Chinese grammar. Because the grammar of English organizes these patterns very differently, it can be very difficult for speakers of English to comprehend this as 'natural'.

These statements of Lao-zi express an understanding of the pattern of each of the five dimensions. The Tao symbolizes the unity of the first dimension. The first dimension symbolizes an awareness of space that does not change over time. The number '1' symbolizes the first dimension. The number '2' symbolizes the first subdivision, into the second dimension. The numbers '3' and '4' symbolize the second and third subdivisions into the third and fourth dimensions. The phrase 'all that exists' symbolizes an awareness of '5', the subdivision into the five dimensional cycle of nature. Mankind is aware of '5' dimensions, which can be symbolized by the numbers '1', '2', '3', '4', and '5'. The Tao is the symbol of the unity of the first dimension; the Tao is the symbol of subdivision into the second, third, fourth, and fifth dimensions; and the Tao is again the symbol of unity, the unity of the five dimensions of nature.

As mankind became aware of each succeeding dimension, the previous dimension subdivided into '2'. The '1'st dimension symbolizes an awareness of '0' subdivisions into '2'. The number '2' with '0' subdivisions can be symbolized mathematically as '2⁰', and as '2⁰ = 1', in the '1'st dimension there is awareness of '1'.

1.3 English In The '1'st Dimension

The ancient Greeks did not even consider '1' to be a number, as there is no 'natural' finger sign to symbolize the number '1'. At the time of awareness of only one, there was no two, there was no ability to subdivide things into groups, and so there was really not yet number, as numbers represent positions, or degrees of distinction in nature, of which there was as yet awareness of none. Just as the concept that is expressed by the word 'woman' is meaningful only in distinction to the concept that is expressed by the word 'man', the number '1' can be meaningful only if there exists another number, '2', with which it can represent a distinction.

English words such as 'unit', 'unite', 'unity', 'unify', 'union', 'unique', 'unison', 'uniform', 'uniformity', 'unicycle', 'unicorn', 'unilateral', 'unanimous', 'university', and 'universe' are related to the Latin word for 'one', unus, and express abstract concepts that reflect the uniqueness and indivisibility of the pattern of unity in nature. For example, 'to unify' is to 'combine into one', and 'unique' is 'one of a kind', etc. Some English words of Germanic origin, such as the words 'alone' and 'lonely', which express concepts related to being by 'oneself', even contain the word 'one', as do 'once', 'atone', and 'only'.