We surround ourselves with tools to help us think. We use files, books, paper and pencils to extend our thoughts beyond our bodies. The more tools we place in our environment, the more resourceful we become in solving problems. It is as if the objects become extensions of our minds. Arguably, computers are also phenotypical extensions of our thought processes.
Space is itself a tool for thought.
We frame, overlay, link, and lay out ideas just as we do objects. Space lets us relate to objects, translating them from abstract to physical states and back again.6 Sometimes posing questions spatially and experientially clarifies the way to an answer. The diagrams of Richard Feynman that graphically present subatomic, almost sub-physical interactions show how space is used in problem solving. Einstein's thought experiment of travelling on a beam of light eventually led to his general and special theories of relativity. Our position within the space sets our relationship to its contents.