Vector_Graphics wrote:I mean, we're just based on a quadrupedal model. What would equivalent of "quadrupedal model" be in 4D? 6 or 8 legs?
Vector_Graphics wrote:4d creatures don't really face the anatomical difficulties of 2d creatures. Also, the "arms are above but between legs" is exactly what I mean by octahedral model.
quickfur wrote:In 4D, there's this very interesting possibility that isn't available in lower dimensions: a 2-legged arrangement that's actually stable. The way this works is that the feet are at 90° angles to each other, such that their projection to 3D forms two opposite edges of a tetrahedron. A tetrahedral arrangement in 4D is inherently stable (analogous to the tripod in 3D). Let's call these two opposite edges E1 and E2. When walking, the creature would lift the foot corresponding to E1, for example, and place it on the other side of E2, thus reflecting the tetrahedron across E2, forming an inverted tetrahedron. Then it lifts foot E2 and places it on the other side of the new position of E1, again forming the original tetrahedron but displaced by twice the distance between E1 and E2. So basically, a 2-legged walking gait.
quickfur wrote:You're forgetting that this is 4D we're talking about. The feet are still pointing forward. But because of the extra lateral dimension, the legs can be positioned with 2 degrees of freedom while remaining in the hyperplane that faces the direction you're walking in. As I said, this gait is not possible in dimensions below 4D because there isn't enough degrees of freedom to fit everything into. But in 4D it's possible.
quickfur wrote:The feet can point forward and extend sideways in two orthogonal directions. That is, one foot can be oriented 90 degrees relative to the other, yet at the same time both of them can still point forward.
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