Separation Principle

Many elements in The Witness have been designed according to the Separation Principle: either some elements are artificially separated, either there is a process involving the separation of elements. The principle can also been seen in puzzles rules such as the segregation rule, the color separation rule, and more generally any area-based rule.

Marsh
Many things are separated in the Marsh, more than in other areas: the colored water is separated in different pools. Water itself separates distant platforms or structures. Mechanical devices are used to separate natural elements: The action of the pumps separates the underwater rooms from the surrounding pools; The colored pipes in the underwater room seem to extract colored stuff from the water; Grids attached to the movable platforms collect the colored material that floats on the water. Finally, the area itself is separated from the rest of the island by a metal fence; and the area contains many doors that separate different parts of the Marsh.

Note how man-made things separate natural ones, and reciprocally. This can also be related to the principle of opposition between man-made elements and natural ones and to the Feynman quote found in the Marsh: “If our small minds, for some convenience, divide this [nature] into parts [...], remember that nature does not know it! So let us put it all back together [...]”.

Treehouse
To do...