Outline Informative Speech

Topic: The fourth dimension

General objective: Give a common person a relative understanding about what we already
know about the fourth dimension.
Defining your audience: 18 to 50 years old graduated adults interested in science.
Title (write it last): Understanding the fourth dimension with short analogies.

Introduction

Attention grabber: If I tell you that I’ve got a four dimensioned cube, what would you answer to
me?
Information hunger: Ever since 1904 with C.H. Hinton publication: The fourth dimension. The
mathematical, scientific and philosophical fields have been studying the limits of our reality or…
the limits of our perception of this.
Thesis statement (specific objective): using famous analogies to make the information easier
to understand, explain the fourth dimension and its implication in an imaginary day-to-day with
this property.

Body

Main idea to discuss: The fourth dimension in physics and geometry

References / Facts: 2 points form a line, 4 lines form a square, 6 squares form a cube…then 8
cubes form the surface of a tesseract, the fourth dimensioned figure.
Supporting ideas: In geometry, a 4d object is a combination of 3d objects, a new perspective
imperceptible for us. While, in physics, it is more related with the time.

Main idea to discuss: The novel: Flatland and its participation in the understanding of the fourth
dimension
References / Facts: a bidimensional figure lives in peace, but then, a 3d figure appears on its
world, showing itself as a figure that starts being large, then low, and then again large to finally,
dissapear.
Supporting ideas: the perspective of a 4th dimensioned figure would be a 3d figure that appears
to be big, then it gets small, to recover its original size and finally disappear.

Main idea to discuss: Marc Ten Bosch is making a videogame in which the player uses a
character to move across interconnected 3d section maps.
References / Facts: a 3d being in a 4d world would be equal to a 2d living being in a 3d world.
Both beings would need sections of their own dimension to move across the macro world.
Supporting ideas: Hypercube is a minecraft map that applies the same concept, using 3d
sectioned maps to complete a 4d course.
(3 to 5 ideas max)

Conclusion

Summary of main points: Challenging our biological and existential limits will always be
something searched by humanity. It is in our nature, and such an ambiguous concept as the
fourth dimension results easy to put in perspective when we are heading our limits and when is
prudent to continue.
Punch line: But at the end of the day, even a promethean fight is entertaining is better than
nothing. And maybe, nothing is what we need to set a new approach on the things we are
looking for.
(Make sure there’s no call to action)