In our previous article, “Thinking in Clouds,” we explored how we understand concepts. We saw them not as fixed definitions, but as living pattern‑clouds—dynamic collections of examples, associations, and uses. This observation naturally leads to a question. If our thoughts and concepts are such clouds, and indeed if everything we can conceive of is a pattern, where do all these patterns reside? What fundamental field encompasses this immense variety?
To discuss this all-encompassing collection of everything conceivable in a coherent way, we need a name for it. We call this abstract domain Pattern Space. It is not an additional region of the physical cosmos, nor is it a mere philosophical abstraction. Pattern Space serves as the conceptual ground. Here, all patterns—be they the regularities we observe in the physical world or the structures of our mental and cultural lives—find their place.
With this foundational idea in mind, let’s look more closely at what Pattern Space contains.
Defining Pattern Space and Its Contents
Pattern Space is the conceptual field that contains every conceivable and inconceivable pattern. This includes every quality, configuration, process, rule, or meta‑rule. It is the totality of all representations. Distinctions fundamental to our everyday experience, such as matter versus mind, fact versus fiction, or static versus dynamic, are themselves specific pattern-configurations. They are ways we structure experience within this overarching field, not inherent properties of Pattern Space as such.
To grasp its sheer scope, consider the diverse categories of patterns it contains. Pattern Space spans everything from pure formal systems, like geometry, algebra, and proof theory, to symbolic grammars found in language, music, and narrative. It includes social and cultural webs such as institutions, norms, and ethics, as well as physical-natural regularities like the laws of physics, ecosystems, and human-made artifacts.
Pattern Space also encompasses the direct patterns of lived qualia—sensory textures, emotions, memories. It holds all fictional worlds and alternate histories, for example, Middle-Earth or a history where Rome never fell. The patterns of identity and agency, like stable self-structures or probable life trajectories, reside here. Even patterns describing how other patterns are used or combined, such as metaphors or the concept-clouds we’ve discussed, are part of it. The essential principle is that nothing is excluded. Pattern Space, this ground of potential, contains every conceivable pattern, along with every variation and every possible combination of those patterns, as an unbounded abstract domain.
With this panorama of pattern-types in view, we can now examine what makes Pattern Space its own kind of reality.
Fundamental Characteristics of Pattern Space
Pattern Space is not a simple location or a passive container; it is the timeless ground of possibility itself. It is the ultimate source from which all forms and structures originate. It contains not just what is, but everything that could be, under any conceivable set of rules or assumptions.
This primordial field is more fundamental than any specific reality we experience. Physical laws, spacetime, and even the distinction between mind and matter are themselves complex patterns existing within Pattern Space; they are not external frameworks that contain it. While Pattern Space itself does not “evolve” in a temporal sense, it timelessly encompasses all patterns of change, process, and temporal development as possibilities within it.
Pattern Space is not a physical place; it has no coordinates or dimensions in the usual sense and is purely abstract. Nor is it a static storage for patterns. The very idea of activity or evolution is itself a type of pattern within this field. Furthermore, what humans can conceive is an infinitesimal fraction of the patterns contained within Pattern Space.
Finally, while it has set-like qualities, we best understand it as a conceptual framework for the totality of all patterns. This avoids the paradoxes that can arise from defining it as a formal mathematical set in the simple sense. Does this begin to paint a picture of its unique nature?
Pattern Space as the Home of Concepts
Having established Pattern Space as this vast field of all patterns, we can now see how our everyday concepts occupy specific regions within it. Those rich, multifaceted concepts like “horse,” “chair,” or “justice”—which we explored in “Thinking in Clouds”—are specific regions or dynamic distributions of patterns within the vaster expanse of Pattern Space.
Each concept, understood as the sum of all its instances, encompasses all its possible instantiations. The concept of “car,” for example, is not just a definition. It is the entire region of Pattern Space covering every conceivable car pattern. This includes every model, every color, every state of existence, every functional role, and every artistic representation. The concept-cloud is our way of referring to these specific, complex regions within this field of structures. Consider how, each morning, your memory and perception draw a fresh “wave” of your personal “car” concept from this vast field of possibility, shaped by your immediate context and needs.
To further understand Pattern Space’s novelty, it helps to contrast it with familiar philosophical constructs.
Some Useful Distinctions
Before we delve deeper into the nature and meaning of Pattern Space in future articles, we’ll add to our understanding by contrasting it with certain established conceptual models.
First, consider Plato’s Forms. Plato posited a realm of singular, perfect, unchanging blueprints, known as Forms, for earthly categories—like the ideal “Triangle.” Pattern Space, however, offers a more encompassing view. It contains not just these “ideal” archetypes, but also accounts for every imperfect sketch, all evolving variants, and the higher-order dynamics that connect them. Furthermore, it includes patterns for phenomena like “chaos” or “a specific historical event,” which lack a single “perfect” template. Thus, Pattern Space functions as a source of infinite diversity. It extends beyond mere static ideality.
It is also important to distinguish Pattern Space from the highly structured and abstract frameworks of category theory. Category theory provides powerful tools for defining precise relationships between ‘objects’ and organizing diverse mathematical concepts. At least at this stage, Pattern Space is not intended as such a formal, axiomatic system. Instead, it serves as a conceptual scaffold—a specific way of thinking about the totality of all patterns. Its fundamental purpose is to provide a sufficiently rich conceptual ground upon which a theory of consciousness and reality can be built.
Key Insights
We have named Pattern Space as the infinite, abstract field of all patterns. It is the fundamental ground within which all concepts exist as specific regions or distributions. It is the ultimate source from which all forms, qualities, processes, and experiences are derived.
Now that we have identified this fundamental field, we must explore its internal structure and dynamics. How do elemental patterns combine to form the complex concepts we use? How do thoughts and ideas relate to one another to build intricate systems of meaning?
Our next article, “Understanding Patterns and Their Fundamental Relationships,” will examine these principles of composition. It will show how patterns braid themselves into higher‑order structures. It will also explore how novelty and complexity emerge without ever exhausting the infinite potential of Pattern Space.
This framework, as with all explorations of such foundational topics, aims for precision while remaining open to refinement. Rigorous critique and constructive insight from you, the reader, are essential as this theory develops.