Transitivity of Containment

Back to the example: the present is in the box and the box is in the garage, therefore the present is in the garage.

In my linguistic paper, I came to understand that a preposition like "in" is a persistent state achieved after an event. So, a present can be found in a box by opening the box and looking inside. Similarly [but not identically] a box can be found in the garage by going to the garage and scanning from side to side, top to bottom. If there are several boxes they can be opened one by one.

If we are willing to string together the two activities: going to the garage and scanning, plus opening the box and looking inside, then the "containment" is demonstrated by achieving the same result - finding the present. 

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So, you know, I am kind-of thinking this is idle abstract masturbation. But I don't think it is. If you really wanted to understand the infinite in mathematics, which appears to be a biproduct of which set theory assumptions you accept, then details about how a persistent state is achieved through events becomes relevant. You want to investigate the axiom of choice? Think about how sets are formed, how membership is tested, and how review and selection work for this kind of set.