---
slug: what-is-voxel-graph
title: What Is a Voxel Graph
canonical: https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-voxel-graph
---

<!-- hierarchy:nav -->
> **Path:** [OIP](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip) › [Thinker Reference](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip-thinker-reference) › [Protocol Concepts](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip-protocol-concepts) › **What Is a Voxel Graph**
>
> **Shelf:** Protocol Concepts · **Traversal:** self-explaining · hierarchical · voxel-ready
> **Machine root:** [OIP tree](https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch?map=1&format=markdown) · [Registry](https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch?registry=1)

# What Is a Voxel Graph

## §SELF — what-is-voxel-graph

**What this page is:** A definition of the voxel graph, a typed node/edge graph used in OIP to represent concepts, objects, and their relationships.
**What it explains:** What a voxel graph is, why it is called "voxel," what properties it has, and how it is used to represent knowledge as a connected graph rather than as documents.
**Why read it:** To understand how OIP represents knowledge — not as pages or files, but as a typed, traversable, three-dimensional graph of concepts and relationships.

### What a Voxel Graph Is

A voxel graph is a typed node/edge graph used in OIP to represent the topology of concepts, objects, and their relationships. The word "voxel" is short for "volume element," in the same way that "pixel" is short for "picture element." A voxel graph is a three-dimensional graph where nodes have types and edges have types. The three dimensions are: position (where a node is in the graph), type (what kind of thing the node is), and state (what the node knows or claims). Nodes can be concepts, objects, articles, claims, sources, thinkers, or any typed entity. Edges can be implements, references, contradicts, supports, derives-from, or any typed relationship.

### Why It Matters

Most knowledge systems store information as documents or records. A document has a location (a file path, a URL) and a boundary: it starts at the title and ends at the last paragraph. Relationships between documents are external to the documents themselves — they exist in indexes, link lists, or search engines. A voxel graph inverts this: the graph is the primary structure. A document (like this article) is a view into the graph, not a container. This means relationships are first-class: they are typed, traversable, and part of the same structure as the concepts they connect. The voxel graph is how OIP represents knowledge.

### The Key Idea

Knowledge is not a set of documents. Knowledge is a graph of typed concepts connected by typed relationships. In a voxel graph, every node and every edge has a type. There are no untyped connections. You can traverse from any node to any other by following edges. There is no hierarchy and no center: any node can connect to any other. The graph is rhizomatic (a structure that grows laterally with no central root or trunk). A key feature of the OIP voxel graph is that the philosophy plane (concepts, thinkers, theories) is wired directly to the protocol plane (implementations, objects, operations). For example: the concept node "autopoiesis" (a theory about self-producing systems) connects to the protocol node "§SELF blocks" (a structural element in OIP) via an "implements" edge. The connection means: OIP's §SELF block implements the concept of autopoiesis.

### Properties of a Voxel Graph

- **Typed.** Every node and every edge has a type. A node type might be concept, object, article, claim, source, or thinker. An edge type might be implements, references, contradicts, supports, or derives-from. You cannot have a connection without a type. This means the graph carries semantic information in its structure, not just in the content of its nodes.
- **Traversable.** Any node can be reached from any other by following edges. There is no walled garden. If two concepts are related, there is a path between them. Traversal is the primary operation on a voxel graph: you start at a node and follow edges to discover what is connected and how.
- **Rhizomatic.** There is no root node, no top level, and no required hierarchy. A graph is rhizomatic when it grows in all directions from any point, like a network of roots or a fungal mycelium. In a voxel graph, any node can connect to any other. Hierarchies (like categories or taxonomies) are emergent patterns, not structural requirements.
- **Philosophy-plane wired to protocol-plane.** Concepts from philosophy, theory, and history connect directly to their implementations in the OIP protocol. The edge type tells you the nature of the connection: "implements" means the protocol element implements the concept, "references" means it cites it, "derives-from" means it was inspired by it. This wiring means that the protocol is not opaque: every structural choice can be traced back to the idea that motivated it.

### What It Enables

- **Discovery by traversal.** You can start at a concept (say, "affordance") and follow edges to find which protocol elements implement it, which thinkers wrote about it, which articles reference it, and which claims depend on it. The graph is a map of intellectual territory.
- **Type-safe connections.** Because every edge has a type, you can query the graph by relationship type: "show me all concepts that implement autopoiesis" or "show me all articles that contradict claim X." The type system makes the graph queryable in ways that untyped link collections are not.
- **No separation between knowledge and structure.** In a document system, the document is the unit and the structure is external (a table of contents, a site map). In a voxel graph, the structure is the knowledge. The graph does not represent knowledge; it is knowledge.

### Limitations

- **Graph maintenance cost.** A voxel graph requires more curation than a document collection. Every new node must be typed. Every new edge must be typed and placed correctly. The cost of precision is overhead.
- **Query complexity.** Traversal queries on large graphs can be expensive. Unlike a document system where you fetch a file, a graph query may need to traverse many edges to answer a question. The graph needs indexing and query optimization.
- **No canonical view.** Because the graph is rhizomatic (no center), there is no single starting point. A reader must choose where to enter. This is a feature for exploration and a liability for linear exposition.

### How It Connects to Other Ideas

- **Knowledge graphs (Google, Wikidata).** A knowledge graph is a graph-structured database of entities and their relationships. Google's Knowledge Graph and Wikidata are large-scale examples. A voxel graph is a knowledge graph with the additional constraints that every node and edge is typed and that there is a direct connection between abstract concepts and their concrete implementations.
- **Semantic networks (cognitive science).** A semantic network is a graph where nodes represent concepts and edges represent semantic relations. The voxel graph extends this idea by making the graph operational: it is not just a representation of knowledge but the substrate on which a protocol runs.
- **Rhizome (Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari).** Deleuze and Guattari used the rhizome as a metaphor for non-hierarchical, non-centered structures that grow in all directions. The voxel graph is a literal implementation of this idea: no root, no tree, just connections.

### Sources

- OIP v0.7 Protocol Specification (voxel graph definition and typing system)
- Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. *A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia*. University of Minnesota Press, 1987. (rhizome concept)

---

## Up the tree

- [OIP root](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip) — protocol root, zero-context entry
- [Thinker Reference hub](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip-thinker-reference) — full hierarchy map
- [Protocol Concepts shelf](https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip-protocol-concepts) — siblings on this shelf
- [Voxel graph article](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-voxel-graph) — how pages link as voxels
- [Self-describing protocol](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-self-describing-protocol)

## Related on this shelf

- [What Is Autopoiesis](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-autopoiesis)
- [What Is Capability-Based Security](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-capability-security)
- [What Is a Capability Token](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-capability-token)
- [What Is a Confused Deputy](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-confused-deputy)
- [What Is Context as Cursor](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-context-as-cursor)
- [What Is a Convergence Catalogue](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-convergence-catalogue)
- [What Is a Falsification Surface](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-falsification-surface)
- [What Is HATEOAS](https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-hateoas)

## Machine surfaces

- Public page: `https://miscsubjects.com/a/what-is-voxel-graph`
- JSON article: `https://miscsubjects.com/api/articles/what-is-voxel-graph`
- OIP ask: `https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch?ask=What%20Is%20a%20Voxel%20Graph`


---

## Where OIP does this differently (required edge)

OIP difference: articles are nodes; shelves and Up-the-tree links are the graph; disconfirming edges are first-class.

