I was trying to visualize a 4D array and somehow ended up at time dilation lmao

I started with a pretty simple question, how do you visualize a 4D array? I wanted to give my juniors some kind of picture for how multi-dimensional array operations work in numpy.

But if you keep following the "an n-dimensional thing is a stack of (n-1)-dimensional things" idea, and swap the arrays for actual 3D space (the space R^3) at every instant in time, you get a visualization of spacetime. I took that picture and applied it to Einstein's thought experiment, and it took me all the way to deriving the lorentz factor.

I animated the whole thing in manim, would genuinely love feedback!

This video goes up to why a moving clock ticks slower for someone watching it. Part 2 derives the lorentz factor, which tells you exactly how much slower.

Here's the youtube video: 👉👉 https://youtu.be/LF3Dws8qwQI