We are each a place in the world, but we win by seeing from other places. Let me explain.
From any point within our spacetime we can form a slice of its entirety. That slice is uniquely perceived by us—by the contents of the volume of the universe we occupy. To us, we are a place around which the universe moves.
While we will mostly agree with our neighbours on what was happening at any moment, there is always a difference. Such is physics. No two places in space and time will see everything as the same, so long as the universe has content. Our brains compute a geometry of perspective and differ in structure. Hence, no two minds will interpret the same information—the same light, the same noise or the same breeze—in exactly the same way.
We are fundamentally bound to our perspective in the physical reality we see as the physical reality we are when we see it. In aggregate, we call this our biology, our personality and our culture. We call this our history, our memories and our circumstances. We call this our thoughts, our fears and our dreams. Change these and change who and what and how we are.
We are a successful species largely due to our unique ability to willingly and mindfully cooperate like no other. We would not be able to do this without our great capacity for empathy. Though we are bound to our own perspective we can translate and anticipate other perspectives. We can suppose what another must see and predict what we will see if we move or change our world. We can approximate what it might feel like to be in the perspective of another. We can understand why others feel in ways that we do not. We do not always exercise this ability, but it is one that most of us have.When we lean in to and lean on these abilities we accomplish great things. When we neglect those muscles, they atrophy and we become weak. This is the reality I know from this place, and, by reasoning, I imagine from yours, too.