at every instant
possesses a unique
compressed image
of the whole Tree of Life
that has its origin
as the infant's image
of itself
and its local world
then its comparison
of self with others
its generalisation
of the 'usual' other
its cataloguing of
unusual others
experienced firsthand
or heard tell of
2nd- to Nth-hand
as the spatial boundaries
of the imagination
extend outward
to the ends of the earth
of the universe
to the ends of time
so that a query
about any particular
region of spacetime
generates a best guess
about that region's occupants
their similarities
to the local 'usual'
their degree and style
of un-usual difference
and much human conversation
spoken and also written
involves tweaking of these
'packed' general images
and instantiation of specific
branch biographies
named individuals
whose life histories
are 'usual' in most ways
but whose specific
un-usual differences
are itemised
conventionally in sequential order
but alternatively
in order of importance
or grouped by theme
less important differences
meriting less discussion
better documented differences
propagating more discussion
storytellers confabulating
you-are-there reconstructions
maybe prefacing the conventional
biographical sequence
with a vivid flashforward
that previews the un-usual significance
of the whole
.
