What exists outside of our space-time headset when it’s not being observed is something of a philosophical mystery. According to many interpretations, particularly within quantum mechanics, things in the universe exist in a state of probability or potential until they are observed or measured. This idea comes from the concept that particles don’t have definite properties (such as location) until they’re interacted with, collapsing from a wave of possibilities into a specific reality.

Some theorists suggest that beyond our observational perspective, the universe might exist in a more abstract, unmanifested state—a kind of quantum flux of possibilities. Others, like those who explore metaphysical ideas, might say that what exists outside our perception is beyond human understanding because it’s outside the constructs of space and time that frame our reality.

In a more existential sense, this could point toward an underlying consciousness or fundamental reality that doesn’t depend on our direct observation to exist—perhaps a field of infinite potential that manifests when attention is placed upon it. So, what lies beyond our “space-time headset” could be pure potentiality or a reality so different that it doesn’t conform to the categories of space-time at all.