A relational ontology for very small philosophers.
Page 1 —
Once upon a time, in a land still waiting to happen,
there lived a curious girl named Liora.
Liora loved to ask big questions like:
“Where does something come from?”
and
“What is a thing, really?”
Page 2 —
One morning, Liora opened her eyes and found…
nothing.
Or rather—
everything that could be, but wasn’t yet.
It was a soft, shimmering field called Maybe.
Page 3 —
“Hello?” Liora called into the Land of Maybe.
Her voice didn’t echo—
it rippled,
the way possibilities wiggle when someone pays attention.
Page 4 —
A friendly creature popped out!
It looked kind of like a cloud,
kind of like a thought,
and kind of like a question mark.
“I’m Potentia!” it said.
“I’m not anything yet,
but I’m ready.”
(It wiggled again.)
Page 5 —
“What are you ready for?” Liora asked.
Potentia beamed.
“For many things!
But I only become one when someone makes a construal.”
Page 6 —
Liora blinked.
“What’s a construal?”
Potentia whispered,
“It’s when you make a cut in the Land of Maybe.
You choose a path through all the ways things could be.”
Page 7 —
Just then, a gentle giant trudged over—
a big furry creature with labels stuck all over him:
“Shape”, “Colour”, “Before”, “After”, “Near”, “Far”, “Mine”, “Yours”.
“I’m Meaning-Bear,” he grumbled cheerfully.
“I help tidy up the world once you make a cut.”
Page 8 —
Liora pointed to a shimmering wobble in the air.
“That could be a tree!” she said.
Suddenly—
POP!
Potentia jumped into form,
and Meaning-Bear held up the “tree-ish” sign.
And there stood a lovely little tree.
Page 9 —
“That wasn’t magic,” Meaning-Bear explained.
“It was you!
You made a perspectival shift from maybe to here-now.”
Page 10 —
“But is the tree real?” Liora asked.
Potentia giggled.
“It’s as real as your cut.
You shaped it by seeing it this way,
instead of that way.”
Page 11 —
Together they wandered until they found a strange cliff.
Over the edge was… Too-Muchness.
It sparkled and fizzled and looked like tangled maths.
“That’s where things get tricky,” Meaning-Bear said.
“Some maybes are too wiggly for tidy shapes.”
Page 12 —
Potentia whispered:
“Those are the bits where your construal reaches its limit.
Like when numbers get grumpy.
Or when space folds funny.”
Page 13 —
“Does that mean we stop understanding?” Liora asked.
“No,” said Meaning-Bear.
“It means the world is bigger than any one way of cutting it.”
Page 14 —
“And that,” Potentia chimed in,
“is why different explorers see different worlds!
Each cut brings out a different shape from the same maybe.”
Page 15 —
Liora smiled.
“So the world isn’t hidden underneath?”
“Nope,” said Meaning-Bear.
“It happens with you.”
Page 16 —
“And me,” said Potentia.
“And all the other beings who wiggle when someone wonders.”
Page 17 —
Liora took a deep breath of the shimmering Land of Maybe.
“So what should I do now?”
Page 18 —
Meaning-Bear handed her a tiny pair of golden scissors.
“Keep making careful, curious cuts,” he said.
“Shape the world wisely.”
Page 19 —
Potentia winked.
“I’ll be here, ready to wiggle into whatever you dream next.”
Final Page —
And together they wandered onward—
Girl, Cloud-Creature, and Meaning-Bear—
co-creating the world
one
precious
cut
at
a
time.
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