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The Open Box: Why We Are Not "In" The Universe

An M. Rodriguez (ORCID), Elias Thorne

Preferred Frame Writing — January 2026

One-Sentence Summary

We argue that the concept of a spatial container is an optical illusion, proposing instead that reality is a self-referential field topology where "objects" are knots and "time" is the metabolic cost of their persistence.

Summary

We challenge the fundamental assumption that space is a container and matter exists "inside" it. Using the Point–Not–Point (PNP) framework, we demonstrate that "objects" are actually self-confined topological knots in a scalar field. We show that the distinction between "in" and "out" is a phase relationship ($0$ vs $\pi$), not a spatial boundary, and that time is not a background dimension but the byproduct of the field's persistence.

Keywords

Keywords: Container Fallacy, Open Box Topology, PNP Framework, Self-Referential Field, Emergent Time, Geometric Mass, Phase Topology

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2026-01-20 https://writing.preferredframe.com/doi/10.5281/zenodo.18319551
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