Talk:Flatland

message: Discworld is not at all like Flatland -- no explorations of worlds with more or less than three dimensions, just parodies of various science-fiction and fantasy.  Removing. --Crunchy Frog 23:07, 26 Aug 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree that Discworld has no relevance here, but Pratchett's work is not just parody. Of course Discworld is not a 2-dimensional space - the disc has height, and this is three dimensional.--RLent 17:27, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Discworld

message: *There's nothing in the article nor on this talk page about use of "Flatland" or "Flatlander" in other discussions, such as its use as an accusation of narrow thinking.  I'll look for sources, and if there's no objection I'll add something, or encourage others to.  Barno 18:11, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: There should be some mention - if only a "see also" - for folks who think the term is derived from this book and come here looking for guidance. ... As I noticed, after writing this note, that somebody has already done. That is sufficient, I think. - DavidWBrooks 16:24, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Term "Flatland[er]" in culture

message: Let's wait until the movie exists before we link to it - the world is full of "almost-made" movies that never make it to "made" -  although it looks like it could be good. - DavidWBrooks 23:16, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It has been linked for some time. - DavidWBrooks 11:33, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  movie of the book 

message: Maybe I'm mistaken, but I seem to remember the sphere telling Square that Flatland was on the surface of a body of water, like a sea. Relevant?
Wikiwarlock 19:05, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  where is Flatland? 

message: Does anybody recall a more recent novel based on a two-dimensional universe?  I know it exists and I've read it, but I don't know the title off hand.  It was somewhat more technical in approach, but it was most definately inspired by Flatland. 24.57.252.179
: Probably The Planiverse by A. K. Dewdney. Xihr 22:49, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Other works? 

message: Lots of nice links to further reading, but I've still no idea what the novella is about. I know that it's of interest to mathematicians, but no clue as to its actual substance. Not very useful. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.144.73.31 (talk) 21:19, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Huh? There's a long paragraph that describes the story, and then discussion about the social aspect. What else are you looking for? - DavidWBrooks 23:18, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

text: Although that's true, the story wasn't described with much detail and several important elements were reported incorrectly, in the wrong order, or completely ommitted.  I fixed a few things today.  Before, Square's expulsion from Spaceland and imprisonment in Flatland were sort of combined into a single event and it was implied that Square was imprisoned for guessing that a fourth dimension might exist.  Only the abrupt return to Flatland was related to Square's theorizing about a fourth dimension - he was imprisoned in Flatland for telling his own people about the third dimension.  Also the article originally omitted the fact that Square and the Sphere were eventually reconciled and that the visit to Pointland occurs AFTER expulsion from Spaceland.  I also put in the sub-plot about A. Square's imprisoned brother.I have the timeline in the correct order now, but my writing is pretty weak.  Feel free to clean it up, but please keep the story true to the book. --Curien1000 18:30, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Wikipedia isn't an online Cliff notes - we don't need to relate every plot element of every book. The point is to give a quick overview of the storyline for the casual reader; dragging in every single plot and subplot makes things unreadably long and tedious, as I personally think you've done. But I won't revert it, since it's a matter of taste. - DavidWBrooks 20:49, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Content? 

message: I was told by my Geometry teacher when we read the book that Abbott used a penname when he originally published it. Is this true? If so, it would be worth mentioning.  71.127.122.7 01:03, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Abbott was a distinguished schoolmaster and theologian.  The first edition of the book was released under the pseudonym (or pen name) of "A. Square", which it carries to this day. I do not know which edition added Abbott's name, but preface to the 2nd edition (also 1884) indicates the author remained anonymous.  Perhaps it was after he retired in 1889.  --Blainster 00:43, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Penname? 

message: It would be nice to add in information stuff about how Flatland is a satire of Victorian society rather than just talking about the book itself.
:But we need citations to add this information. — Val42 19:00, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Stewart's annotated edition provides this in pretty good detail, along with a lot of other background research. 173.70.127.93 (talk) 02:39, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Flatland as a social satire 

message: Brian Greene makes extensive use of Flatland (and Lineland) as an analogy in his books The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos. Perhaps that could be included in the "Other Uses" section? 66.66.133.188 23:57, 11 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  A reference 

message: "A 1997 animated short Flatworld is unrelated to Flatland". if it's unrelated shouldn't it be deleted? --G30ffr3y (talk) 01:02, 8 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: That's a judgment call. Mentioning it might help confused readers who came to this article by accident: "Oh, right, now I remember - it was Flatworld!" On the other hand, we can't mention every movie or book that might be confused with this one, so the question is whether this is close enough to be worth mentioning. I'd say yes. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 13:10, 8 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unrelated films 

message: Anyone know anything about the First Edition of it? 1884 is the year of his Second and Revised Edition. --70.23.237.75 (talk) 15:20, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  First Edition of Flatland 

message: This book has caused some damage. It leads impressionable people to believe that a dimension is a world that is inhabited by observers. It gives the impression that a dimension is a universe or a realm of being. It describes intelligent beings who could come from a certain world and be able to detect more dimensions than beings who have more limited intelligences and who live in another dimensional world. These are all false spatial metaphors. In so doing, the book misleads people and prevents them from understanding that a dimension is merely a way of measuring, determined by the constitution of our animal brains. As a result of this constitution, there can be only three spatial dimensions. The author cleverly presents authoritative people who live in worlds of limited dimensions as cruel, tyrannical, and bloodthirsty. This engenders sympathy for people who crave the liberation of being able to know and experience more spatial dimensions. Many generations have been misinformed and misled by Flatland into misunderstanding the word dimension. It is likely that the damage is irreparable and dimension joins the many other words in our language whose original and proper meaning has been forever lost and whose signified concepts will now be always be misunderstood.Lestrade (talk) 20:15, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: And those talking bears in the "Goldilocks" stories - just think how many years they have fooled people into thinking that grizzlies are orators! It's a crime, I tell you, a crime!!!- DavidWBrooks (talk) 21:45, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: What's the point of this post?  The purpose of this talk page is to discuss the article, not the subject.  If you feel that article should include this information, find reliable sources that state this and modify the article.  If you cannot find a reliable resoure, then this is original research.  12.10.248.51 (talk) 14:34, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: The Harm of ''Flatland''

message: Could the Homer3 episode of the Simpsons (as mentioned on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treehouse_of_Horror_VI#Homer3 ) also be a reference to flatland?
87.114.0.78 (talk) 17:03, 27 December 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Only obliquely at best.  It's trivia, anyway.  Xihr  08:33, 29 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Simpsons reference? 

message: The first exposure I had to Flatland was as the inspiration for a young adult novel I read many years ago. That book doesn't appear to be among the related works listed in the article. Unfortunately I do not recall the title or author. It was about a schoolboy (and, eventually, his female friend) who stumbles into hyperspace and has various adventures and mishaps. It also featured the existance of lower dimensional spaces, similar to flatland, but on the surface of a sphere. In the end he becomes a member of a secret society tasked with protecting one of them from from higher dimensional beings (such as, ironically, himself). Does anyone know the book I'm refering too? Karatorian (talk) 20:02, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I would ask over at http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/topics but before doing so read the Story identification requests section of http://groups.google.com/group/rec.answers/browse_thread/thread/fac8bfea79f53415/b778d6c48f5d1dfc --Marc Kupper|talk 01:02, 11 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Other Related Works 

message: This entire line is a quote, 
:"Although Flatland was not ignored when it was published,[5] it did not obtain a great success. Proof of that can be considered the fact that in the entry on Edwin Abbott Abbott in the Dictionary on National Biography, Flatland is not even mentioned"
except that the name of the book is the "Dictionary OF National Biography" 
:The only problem is that I cannot find any version of the Dictionary of National Biography that even mentions Edwin Abbott Abbott.
:The 1903 version mentions only his father Edwin Abbott. So, I'm hesitant to accept this at face value. Perhaps someone could point me to a way to search out the actual volume that contains the multiple page, two column article that is referred to in the "The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions" by Ian Stewart?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Danindenver (talk • contribs) 20:25, 7 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Critical Reception 

message: From the article: In Flatland Abbott describes a society rigidly divided into classes. Social ascent is the main aspiration of its inhabitants, apparently granted to everyone but in reality strictly controlled by the few that are already positioned at the top of the hierarchy. Freedom is despised and the laws are cruel. Innovators are either imprisoned or suppressed. Members of lower classes who are intellectually valuable, and potential leaders of riots, are either killed or corrupted by being promoted to the upper classes. The organisation and government of 'Flatland' is so self-satisfied and perfect that every attempt for change is considered dangerous and harmful. This world, as ours, is not prepared to receive 'Revelations from another world'.
TCO (talk) 17:51, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: You had better not be questioning the integrity of the administrators! --Joshua Issac (talk) 14:35, 13 December 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sounds like Wikipedia 

message: "whereof women are simple line-segments"
Correct me if I am mistaken, as it has been 17 years since I've read this, but aren't the females all thin isosceles triangles that could potentially impale the flatlanders? "line-segments" existed in the 2-dimensional land only, if I recall correctly.166.176.122.43 (talk) 05:05, 27 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Females clarification 

message: (anonymous comment placed in the article, moved here) Not so much an edit, but a suggestion: someone who has access to the resources should look into it. Martin Gardner was responsible for popularizing Flatland in the late 60s and 70s in his Mathematical Games section of Scientific American. He returned to the topic of Flatland many times as a backdrop for an article exploring some odd property of Flatland. I would imagine this is how most of what is cited here knew about Flatland. For it to not be covered here is a major omission. Also, in the 60s a Master's student at the Biological Computer Lab at the University of Illinois did a thesis on the restrictions in complexity of neural networks in Flatland since 'wires can't cross.' The thesis is not correct. It is possible to construct a box that "crosses wires" without any of the logic elements in the box crossing wires. IOW, A goes in the left side and B goes in the right side at the bottom of the box; and A comes out the right side and B comes out the left side of the top of the box. I will leave it as an exercise to figure out how. Hint: it is analogous to an early homework problem in linear algebra.
: "Martin Gardner was responsible for popularizing Flatland in the late 60s and 70s" ... in the same way that Elizabeth Taylor was responsible for popularizing Cleopatra ? Get outta Dodge. He used a book that had been well-known for a hundred years for examples. There is too much faith put in the Big Man theory on wikipedia. 203.160.80.154 (talk) 17:09, 26 July 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Anonymous comment about Martin Gardner 

message: In some part it ays A Square wrote Flatland but how can he write? 181.71.66.100 (talk) 17:55, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Please note WP:TALK: . Please try the Wikipedia:Reference desk with your question. Paradoctor (talk) 19:31, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  How can A Square (more like any Flatlander) write something if they only see a 1D line?