We've been thinking about physics in entirely the wrong way.
Spacetime considerations dominate our thought processes about physics.
What I have in mind is an information-dominated approach to physics. In other words, we begin by defining physical reality in terms of information. My next postulate is that the total amount of information in the universe is finite and constant. This springs from the second law of thermodynamics. If you could increase the total amount of information in the universe, then you could run heat engines forever on their own exhaust.