Imagine a cartoon character making a decision
with an angel and a devil version of themselves on their shoulder offering them advice
But on the shoulders of the angel and devil
are a tiny little angel and devil of their own
as much more angelic or demonic as the spirit on whose shoulders they perch
as those entities are of the earthly idiot they advise
And perhaps, unseeably small upon their shoulders
sit even tinier angelic and demonic versions of themselves
weighing in on the decision with increasingly finer degrees of self-interest or self-sacrifice
the debates carried out at faster and faster speeds
so that all these arguments can be tested and carried out
quickly enough to still be relevant to the problem faced
by the poor schlub with the weight of this metaphor
lurking ghostly upon their shoulders.
Well, depending on how heavy they are in relation to their host creature, it’s probably a convergent series. Unless they’re massive shoulder angels.