Square one, or the original position, or the veil of ignorance– said some philosopher talking about, of all things! economy/political theory. Paraphrased, “to assume a state of pure objectivity, to purge past predispositions or knowledge,” is our subject. My own experience with square one is a fickle and caricaturesque one, complete with a youthful zest for non-absolutes and a lack of knowledge to begin with. My square one is not this theoretically perfect position of objectivity; for my mind is already tainted, with prejudice disguised as experience, with a standardization of thought.

There is no practical, quotidian example of square one, it is impossible to even decipher it in everyday thought. The one differentiation that can be made, however, is that the “original position” is meant to be imposed on oneself by oneself and my similar situation, square one, imposes its unwarranted presence. A thought can begin, not in any state of objectivity, and lead me back to square one, a rational ouroboros, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sidenote to the cyclical nature of absolutely everything, but that’s for another time. The thought, then, is not completed, but rather has led its host back to the beginning, forcing objectivity, in a scheme of saturated senses and chaotic possibilities, all leading nowhere but back to square one.