[pessimizer]

> time is not a dimension, it's the 'refresh rate' of matter.

Exactly. Time is just a very useful fudge to describe change. If nothing changes, there's been no time. If something changes, there has been time.

A dimension is just a useful number that you can operate on. You can have a physics where the fourth dimension is how blue something is, and the fifth dimension is how good Mary thinks it tastes.