Branes as Literal Worlds

String theory introduces branes — multi-dimensional objects on which strings can end or propagate. Popular accounts often depict branes as “sheets” or “membranes” floating in higher-dimensional space, sometimes even suggesting entire universes could exist on them.

Effect: This metaphor encourages a literal reading of branes as pre-existing, concrete entities — almost as if we could point to them like islands in a higher-dimensional ocean. It naturalises higher-dimensional space as a stage populated by tangible objects, rather than a formal structure for organising relational potentials.

Relational Reframe: In our ontology, a brane is not a “thing” in space; it is a symbolic cut that organises a network of potential interactions among strings. Its dimensionality encodes relational structure, not physical substance. When a string attaches to a brane, it is not “landing” on a hidden sheet, but rather entering a pattern of constraints and possibilities defined by the formalism.

Consequence: Treating branes as real objects misleads intuition, fostering metaphysical speculation (parallel worlds, collisions of universes) that conflates formal convenience with ontological claim. Branes, like strings themselves, are best understood as tools for relational alignment — scaffolds of potential, not actors in a pre-existing drama.

Punchline: Branes are maps, not territory; their “location” and “motion” exist only within the network of symbolic relations the theory constructs.