While reading Brian Greene's book,
The Fabric of the Cosmos, I found myself contemplating the extra spatial dimensions required by the mathematics of string theory. String theory is a conceptual and theoretical framework that unites the heretofore disparate ideas of relativity and quantum theories. Before string theory these two theories, relativity and quantum, were good at describing the very big and the very small, respectively. But there was a lack of clarity when attempting to use either one to describe how relativistic concepts might work on the level of the quantum.
The urge to unite the two into a more general theoretical framework arises from the observable fact that reality comprises both phenomenon, and also the mathematics of both have provided for a way of conducting experiments that have likewise made intelligible findings that confirm the veracity of both theories with rigorous accuracy. So there seems no reason why the two cannot be made to fit compatibly into a grander paradigm. One problem with this new proposed thought paradigm has been that the mathematics of string theory require extra spatial dimensions. This is a problem because we only experience three spatial dimensions. Add time and we have four. String theory math requires an additional nine.
The extra nine spatial dimensions aside, there is another way to think about dimensions that is more intuitive, and that is within the experience of most adults. As we mature from infancy to toddlerhood we become intimately familiar with the four above mentioned dimensions as we learn to explore our physical surroundings. The more a person moves around in space, the more familiar he or she will be with these four. Athletes like gymnasts and football players, who must learn to navigate the three spatial dimensions with precise timing learn how real the four dimensions of physical reality are. Likewise, anyone who has every made an appointment knows that time of the meeting is equally as important as the three spatial dimensions that identify it's location. We add onto these four dimensions the dimension of motive. In the United States we recognize the importance of this dimension by holding citizens accountable for it by the age of 18. This is how long we reckon it take a person to become adroit and savvy about this extra spatial and temporal dimension. So there is the where and when a person does something, now with the why added to it.
There are yet other dimensions that serve to expand the why dimension. Said differently, the why can be expanded to great depth. The most obvious examination of this dimension is the observation that two people can be doing the same thing for different reasons, different motivations. For example, a person can pick up a lost item and take it with them. One person may do so in order to find its true owner and return it, while someone else may do so to keep it for their own use. The legal theory of mens rhea comprehends this distinction. Roughly translated mens rhea means criminal intent. It is a way of dealing with this idea of why a person does something. If you say something with the intent of harming another's reputation, that speech may be interpreted by the law as libelous because of your intention. Whereas the same words spoken without such intent may not be actionable.
Another dimension may be added to the why. A person may act for a cause greater than their personal motives. These can expand to resemble extra dimensions by themselves, for instance family, society, humanity, all the way up to a conception of Absolute Truth.
