Scientific observers often view living systems as existing in spaces which they conceptualize or abstract from the phenomena with which they deal. Examples of such spaces are

These conceptual and abstracted spaces do not have the same characteristics and are not subject to the same constraints as physical space. Each has characteristics and constraints of its own. These spaces may be either conceived of by a human being or learned about from others

Pecking order in birds or other animals. | Social class space... | Social distance among ethnic or racial groups. | Political distance among political parties of the right and left. | The life space of Lewin, - the environment as seen by the subject, including the field forces or valences between him and objects in the environment, which can account for his immediately subsequent behavior. | Osgood's semantic space as determined by subjects' ratings of words on the semantic differential test. | Sociometric space, e.g., the rating on a scale of leadership ability of each member of a group by every other member. | A space of time costs of various modes of transportation, e.g., travel taking longer on foot than by air, longer upstream than down. | A space representing the shortest distances for messages to travel... | A space of frequency of trade relations among nations. | A space of frequency of intermarriage among ethnic groups. | p. 53; About conceptual or abstracted spaces