The Hierarchy

Maxwell Akin
2 min readJul 19, 2024

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Our intention, with this essay, is clarifying.

Clarifying what?

A vision of infinity that came to me the other night.

A Neverending Wealth Of Ideas

Our universe is made of ideas.

Ideas. Concepts. Notions.

And so on and so forth, endlessly and infinitely; ad infinitum.

Or, at least, that’s what this vision entails.

Right before we move onto the deeper implications of this idea, there is one more thing to clarify.

Our universe is made of many different ideas.

Just as an example, we have the idea of “time.” And, we have the idea of “imagination.”

It just keeps going, endlessly and infinitely; ad infinitum.

The funny thing about these ideas is that many of them are considerably bigger than others.

Just as an example, “infinity” is bigger than “numbers.”

Or, perhaps, it isn’t. And, yet, on some level, it is.

The Hierarchy

The focal point of our “Vision Of Infinity” is something known as “The Hierarchy.”

Just imagine a ladder.

A ladder with no beginning. And, no ending.

Right beyond this ladder, there is a starry sky.

Every rung on this ladder is a different color/hue.

You have a green rung. And, then, a green/purple rung.

And so on and so forth.

Every single one of the rungs on this ladder represents a series of ideas.

Just as an example, one rung, on this ladder, represents “infinity.”

The rung that sits below represents “finitude.”

Somewhere on this ladder is a rung with ideas that we can comprehend.

That is normal.

Just beyond this rung, though, there is a rung with ideas that we, no matter what we do, cannot comprehend.

And, just beyond that rung, there are ever-higher ideas that, naturally, exist beyond ourselves.

The ladder continues to rise, grow, and expand, across an infinite wealth of infinities; ad infinitum.

No matter how high you climb, you will never, ever, reach any endings, limits, or conclusions to the ever-higher ideas that comprise our universe and, in turn, the rungs on this infinite ladder.

Surpassing All Limits

You can consider “The Hierarchy” a definitive representation of the ever-higher ideas our universe is made from.

On its own, this is fine. But, there is one thing to know: The Hierarchy does not contain every idea.

Just beyond The Hierarchy, and its infinite infinities, there is something else.

The “something else” we speak of is vague, ephemeral, and unknowable.

If we have to think of it as anything, then we can think of it as a neverending ocean.

A neverending ocean that grows ideas greater than The Hierarchy.

No, not just greater than The Hierarchy; greater than all things, all notions of “all things,” all that can be known; and so on and so forth, endlessly and infinitely; ad infinitum.

Conclusion

The vision of infinity outlined above is a fiction.

Just a story.

On some level, though, it could be true.

Some ideas are bigger than others.

Sort of.

The ideas within our universe may as well be infinite. And,, there is an infinite progression of ever-higher ideas.

Or, at the very least, that is a nice thought.

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Maxwell Akin

Hey! I’m Max! I Hope You Enjoy What You’re Reading, And If You Want To Reach Me For Any Reason At All, You Can Do So At “maxwellcakin@gmail.com”.