Carl F. Thelin

SEEING ETERNITY WITH AN i

The lower case italic letter “i” is a mathematical symbol for an imaginary number. An imaginary value is something that has no physical meaning. Imaginary numbers are important to you because without them, we would not have lots of electricity. Really, an imaginary number is in a fourth dimension. Fourth? Sure. You know about the first three. The length of something is a numerical dimension. So is the width and the thickness (or height). Many people call those the x, y and z dimensions. When I make a chart, the x dimension is a horizontal line; the y dimension is a vertical line – positioned 90 degrees upward to the x line. If I am plotting a solid object, then I need more than the length and width, I need to plot or draw, the thickness. That is the third dimension, a line at right angles to the other two. With those lines, I can draw or plot a box.

That is elementary, of course. However, there is a real need for another dimension. We call that one an imaginary number or dimension. That was a sad choice of words made by someone a long time ago. It does not mean fictitious.

Here is why that number or dimension is imaginary. I’ll pause here to say that the imaginary number does have a vital importance in delivering electricity to you. You notice that the “high tension lines” that are on big, tall towers come in threes. That is three-phase power, more efficient than single phase power, such as you have in your home. Think of a straight line. It has just one dimension: length. Combine three lines into a triangle with the sides the same length. Imagine how the current on each of the lines fills up the confined space so that it is solid. 

If you are familiar with power boats, you would think, “That looks like the shape of the propeller going through water.” Right! It is exactly like a three-bladed prop. The three points represent the electricity on each of the wires on the tower. The imaginary number is the phase angle between the three points, or propeller blades. If the blades of a prop are not equally spaced, you will get vibration and less power. That is why phase is important.

            BACK TO SOLID OBJECTS AND DIMENSIONS

You know what the first three dimensions mean – x, y and z. If you paid attention in math classes, you should recall that the number 4 is the length of a line that goes 4 units to your right, on the horizontal axis. You also know that four is the square of two. The number two (2) times itself is 2 times 2 equals 4. The square of 3 means 3 times 3 which is the number 9.

You might recall being taught that 2 is the square root of 4, and 3 is the square root of 9.

Now comes the hard part. If 2 times 2 (2 x 2) is 4, you know that 2 times the minus number (-2) ---- 2 x -2, is minus (-4). That is not really imaginary. Actually, say that the first 2 is on the x line and the second 2 is on the vertical line that is called “y”. Now you can see that if the second 2 is plus, then it is upward, but if it is minus (-) then it is downward. Simple, really.

Ok, so you know that 2 is the square root of 4. What number is the square root of minus 4 (-4)? The square root of (-4) is (2i). That is “2” with an italic “i” behind it. 

You were taught that (-2) times (-2) is just plain (+2). Why? Think of it this way. A line (+2x); inches, miles, whatever; long points to the right – plus. Another line (+2y) points up. The combination points up and to the right. In the same manner (-2x) and (-2y) combine to point down and to the left (+4).

Imaginary. There is no other number that when squared (multiplied by itself) results in a negative number except the one we call (-2i). That number can not be plotted in three dimensions. We call it imaginary.  The imaginary phase number is genuinely real. Without it, we would not have the efficient electric power.

HOW ETERNITY IS CONNECTED TO “I”

Imagine that you are like God, looking down upon a flat map that represents everything. Everything has many dimensions – a lot more than just three. Dimensions are also characteristics. The three dimensions of you are x, y and z. Other dimensions describing you are weight, temperature, age, mood, health, and so on. It is hard to think of how to draw or plot those – but they are you.

Look straight down at a highway from an airplane flying very high. You can see a long straight road. From this height, you can’t see the hills and valleys. When God looks down at everything, He sees a straight line that is your life. It starts when you were conceived, and ends at some point on earth, where you experience a phase change.  That line, the path of your life, has high points and low points, just like a highway. There are billions of other life-lines on the map of everything. Thousands of those lines cross your life line. However, if the other life-line is like a road that crosses over a bridge, you do not intersect it and do not notice it much. You go under and below many bridges on an expressway without paying much attention. If the other road intersects with yours at the same level, you would know it, and that could be when your line and that of your spouse came together, or, your line begins the life-line of your child.

Where does the imaginary “i” fit in? When God looks down on the map of everything He sees a line, for you, for the time you are on earth. He also sees all the other persons’ time-lines that were, are, and will be. That is eternity. God, not you, has the eye to see everything, even those dimensions of your life that appear, to the naked eye, as imaginary – like life: your soul.

            Oh.