Box theory

For argument's sake, assume that the world as we know it is a box. This seems fitting enough, indeed, like a box, the world has a finite amount of resources. Inside this box, picture a single human being as a much smaller box. By filling the box with smaller boxes we get a representation of our world. Of course, there are a finite number of smaller boxes, but this number is constantly changing due to people being born and passing away.

The origin of the box, or how the smaller boxes ended up inside the large box is not known, it is, and probably always will be, a topic of debate amongst scientists, philosophers and theologises alike. I am not interested in the origin of the box. Instead, what fascinates me, is how people, i.e. the smaller boxes, are arranged inside the larger box.

Let us assume that people are arranged solely by their physical locations. In this case, people who are physically existing near each other are near each other also in the box. But I don't believe that the arranging process could be this simple. This leads me to what I like to call, the three levels of being.

On the first and simplest level, the physical level, people are arranged solely based on their physical location. This idea was already introduced earlier.

On the second level, people are arranged by where their minds are, i.e. where their thoughts are in relation to the thoughts of other people. For example, if two people are thinking about exactly the same thing at any given moment in time and space, on the ‘conscious level’ they are at exactly the same place. It is obvious that on the ‘conscious level’ the smaller boxes move around extremely fast.

On the third level, the ‘subconscious level’, people are arranged according to where their subconscious is. It is impossible to know exactly where the subconscious is performing at, but an educated estimation can be made.

I will introduce an example to clarify my meaning. Take Mark, a happily married man living with his wife, Brenda, and their two children, in a pleasant suburb on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Mark and Brenda have been married for over 15 years know and are still deeply in love with each other. On the physical and conscious levels Mark and Brenda are extremely close to each other. However, due to some reason Mark can’t explain, he feels a compelling urge to cheat on his wife with another woman. It is obvious that on the subconscious level, Mark is not in the same place as his wife. His subconscious is driving him away from his happy marriage, and into the arms of the younger more attractive other woman.

What can we conclude from this example? It is obvious, that the subconscious level is the most powerful of the three levels. Even if the physical and conscious levels are in line, they are of no match to the subconscious level. One could easily argue that the position of the physical and conscious levels is of no relevance whatsoever, since it is the subconscious level that is calling the shots. However, I would disagree.

Firstly, there is importance in the physical position. It is a fact that humans cannot exist without a physical body. Furthermore, a human also needs a thinking conscious level to control his everyday functions. The subconscious may be the most powerful of the three levels, but it is still completely dependant on the two other levels. The subconscious level cannot exist without the physical and conscious levels.

Grouping smaller boxes together

How the smaller boxes are arranged depends on their relative positions. If we think of the large box as a three dimensional space, with x-, y- and z-axes, it is quite easy to position the smaller boxes. Let’s agree to place the physical position on the x-axis. If we then place the conscious position on the y-axis and the subconscious position on the z-axis, we can assume coordinates for every single smaller box in existence. It must however be reminded that the boxes are almost constantly on the move, and thus the actually pinpointing of their positions is extremely difficult.

The boxes are grouped together based on their proximity to other boxes. Two people standing next to each other in a hallway are right next to each other on the x-axis. However, on the y-axis these two people may be thousands of miles apart from each other, not to mention their relative z-coordinates. On the other hand, two people on the opposite sides of the larger box physically may be very close on the conscious or subconscious level. Using these tools it is possible to group people down into smaller groups and even smaller subgroups. It should be noted that people can either be grouped by their overall position, taking into account the x-, y-, and z-axes, or only a single axis.

One may ask how close the boxes can actually be to each other? Close, but they can never overlap. I believe that as humans we are singular beings. Spouses, family and close friends may come very close to your box, but they can never fully be on the same place. Since it is impossible to know everything about someone, it logically follows that it is impossible to be exactly in the same place with someone else.