posted on Feb, 21 2012 @ 11:36 PM
This question actually depends on what you mean by 'dimension'. Kilogram is a dimension, as is celsius and a myriad of other quantities, if
you're using the word to define properties of something. Apple in terms of (weight, temperature, volume) is a 3 dimensional quantity. Add in color
for 4d.
Dimension can also refer to a coordinate system. (x,y,z). That's 3 dimensions in spatial coordinates. If you tell a friend where to meet you, you
won't just give them 3 d coordinates though, because they won't know when to meet you. So you say meet me at x,y,z at time t, (x,y,z,t). A
4 dimensional quantity has been created by specifying when, which is what people usually mean when they say 'time is the fourth
dimension.'
Then of course there is the non physical meaning that you seemed to be seeking. In that sense, the Earth is a torus with a large radius of 1
astronomical unit and a small radius of 1 Earth radius. You, on the other hand, are an unbroken blur emerging from your mother when you were born and
growing out of yourself as you read this/pass into the future. In other words, a four dimensional object is a 3 dimensional object stretched
through time.
Of course, if a word can be defined in as many ways as this you may as well just define it to mean what you want. The only people who get confused by
it are those who know what it should mean in the first place and no one else is really interested in semantics that much in the first place.
Except people like me I guess.