As I think I mentioned earlier, for quite some time during this journey I had no coherent model to explain the effects and relationships I was studying. The data was there, but attempting to discuss it with someone usually took me quite a bit of time because I had no reference points and no cohesive picture of what I thought was happening. My first attempt to discuss this with a seasoned science professional failed so miserably that I still flinch when I think about it. He was very polite about it, but then I had just bought him lunch, so...
Fortunately, after that, I had some great friends who let me talk about it until they understood what I was trying to say, and who then helped me to express myself more clearly. What seems so obvious to me now was by no means obvious then. But as I kept looking at anything that might help me explain the data, I eventually fell into the observer problem and the problem of state selection. Jackpot.
While this provided a more recognizable framework for what I was trying to say, it still didn't provide a model that was easy to describe and use, and from which one could generate predictions. That 'a-ha' moment came one day as I was walking from our building to the parking lot. Two thoughts collided - "There's got to be an easier way to describe this!" and a phrase I had heard a couple of nights before on a sci-fi program, "I've solved the seventh dimension." And the 5-dimensional model was born.
Astonishingly, it proved to be more adept at explanation and prediction than I thought it would. As it turns out, the 5th dimension even integrated well with the other four, as the elements of our various mental representations of space and time could be isolated in terms of their effects on state selection.
Unfortunately, my skill at mathematical representation has yet to prove equal to my vision for what it should contain. Spherical matrix mechanics, anyone?
