The Bounded Observer

6 Neither their fears.

7 Neither the events of the morning.

8 Neither the sound of his own words in their ears.

9 And I shit you not, Alma closed his mouth.

10 He asked instead: Wouldst thou prefer listening, ideas, practical help, or a little space?

11 And the person answered.

12 Thus Alma learned that compassion is not the same as confidently explaining another observer to themselves.

13 Yet if another harmeth thee, thou needest not understand their entire universe before setting a boundary.

14 Not knowing everything doth not require enduring everything.

1 And Alma said unto the people: Attend to everything in this room. 2 Hear every sound. 3 Feel every pressure upon the skin. 4 Observe every color. 5 Remember every thought. 6 Track every movement. 7 Know every process within thy liver. 8 Count every signal within thy nervous system. 9 And I shit you not, no one accomplished the assignment. 10 Alma said: The narrator knoweth little of what occurreth beneath it. 11 This is not an insult to consciousness. 12 It is a description of boundedness. 13 The Society therefore useth this phrase: Consciousness is compression. 14 By this we mean that the observer selecteth, integrateth, omitteth, and sequentializeth vastly more happening than can be narrated. 15 Thy inability to perceive a thing is not proof that it doth not exist. 16 Thy ability to imagine a thing is not proof that it doth. 17 Hold both sentences together. 18 They are useful neighbors.