An Old Man sat idly toying with the puzzle in front of him, with which he was having a problem.
To understand his problem it is necessary to understand something of the nature of the puzzle and, perhaps, something of the nature of the Man.
The puzzle was not one that an earth person would recognise but, in very simplistic two-dimensional terms, it could be said to be analogous to an earth jigsaw puzzle. The problem would be that some of the pieces are just ever so slightly too big or that the keys on one piece did not quite line up with the next piece. No matter which way the pieces are turned there would always be one or two that fail to join the way they should. The size of the pieces would also seem to vary as they were moved.
Taking this concept up to three dimensions, it could be like a globe sliced in various directions with bulges and recesses in any or all of the slices, which would fit together with other slices in any number of planes.
But the Old Man’s puzzle was not in two or three dimensions. Or even four, or five. In fact he had six dimensions in which to reconcile the various shapes.
So, it can be seen to be a truly mind-taxing problem.
What of the Man, then?
He was not one that an Earth person would recognise either although his physical manifestation to the people of his world would be similar to an Earth person in ours. He was possessed of a very special mind quite unlike any mind that of an earth person and which was particularly suitable for this type of puzzle. He also had a very, very long time in which to complete the puzzle.
The Old Man’s wife came into the room.
“Won’t you come outside and watch the game?” she said, “It’s your favourite team.”
“In a moment, dear” he replied, “I just want to have another go at sorting this out; I think someone has been messing with the slices again”
He lowered his head and began to skilfully manoeuvre the pieces.