definition

Space Is Made Of Discrete Relational Atoms

Space is not a pre-existing background in which things are placed; it is itself made of discrete disembodied points (atoms of space) that have no position, only relations (connections) to other points, and continuous-seeming space emerges from these relations only when viewed at large scale, analogous to how continuous fluids emerge from discrete molecules.

definitionpending

Speaker

Stephen Wolfram

Evidence Quote

And so the first big realization is from something as unstructured as that, by looking at that on a large-enough scale, it's kind of like how continuous fluids emerge from lots of discrete molecules underneath bouncing around, there's a notion of a kind of continuous-like space that can emerge when you look at that on a large scale.

Source

155 | Stephen Wolfram on Computation, Hypergraphs, and Fundamental PhysicsSean Carroll's Mindscape
Created: 6/13/2026, 3:30:55 AM

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