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Rather than thinking of space as empty vs non-empty, it might be better to think of space as a relationship between things.

I think you make less commitments of space this way.

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That's also the difference between raster and vector modeling of virtual geometry. There is an area on a graph where one literally takes less space on a computer's memory than the other, for representing essentially the same information.

But there are other trade-offs.

Thought you might find this interesting.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/coder-physicists-are-simulati...

In the model you propose, what would I think instead of “this box is full of water”?

I think it’s fine to have the usual view, “this box is full of water”.

But you might also think, “this eyebrow is hairs with not too much space between.”, or “this box is hydrogen and oxygen without too much space between.”

An eyebrow is hairs with a certain spatial density and distance (space) from the eyes. Water is hydrogen and oxygen with relatively less space between than say water vapor.

If I think of space as a magnitude, all the math and forces still work out, but there is “room” for other stuff.

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