The Fourth Dimension
GA 324a
Questions and Answers V
2 November 1911, Berlin
(The wording of the question has not been preserved.)
Plants [Note 18] have four dimensions. In the direction of the fourth dimension, a force works from below upward, counteracting the force of gravity so that the sap can flow upward. This rising direction, in conjunction with the fact that the two horizontal directions are unimportant to the leaves, results in the spiral arrangement of the leaves. In plants, therefore, the downward direction, or the direction of gravity, is nullified by the fourth dimension. As a result, plants can move freely in one direction in space.
Animals have five dimensions. Their fourth and fifth dimensions counteract two of the other dimensions. Because two dimensions are nullified in animals, animals can move freely in two directions. Human beings are six-dimensional beings. Dimensions four through six counteract the other three dimensions Consequently, three dimensions are nullified in humans. As a result, human beings possess three spatial dimensions and can move in three directions. [Note 19]
Notes of a question-and answer-session during the lecture cycle
Psychosophie," in Anthroposophie-Psychosophie-Pneuntatosophie (GA 115).