Ready 2 minutes Identity

Who’s Watching?

A threshold for social pressure: identify the audience in your head (family, tradition, Twitter, your past self), then choose whether to read for them—or for truth.

Threshold Encounter

Jump to Prompt How it works

Names identity-pressure Loyalty ≠ Attention No performance required Enter honestly

When to use it

Before reading anything that carries social cost: scripture, theology, philosophy, politics, identity topics, anything where changing your mind feels like betrayal.

When you feel the need to “stay recognizable”
When disagreement feels personal
When you’re reading “for someone” instead of for the text

What it outputs

A single named audience + a chosen reading posture. No conclusions, no “takeaway,” no required action. Just entry without performance.

How this threshold works

We often confuse loyalty with attention. This threshold separates them. It makes the audience visible, names the cost of changing your mind, then lets you choose whether to read without rehearsing an explanation.

1) Name the audience

Identify who you’re most aware of while reading (a person, group, or past self).

2) Name the pressure

Notice what it would cost—socially or internally—if you changed your mind in front of them.

3) Separate loyalty from attention

You can remain loyal without letting them steer your attention. The threshold clarifies the difference.

4) Enter without rehearsal

Choose whether you can read without practicing your defense, explanation, or performance.

5) No forced entry

If you cannot enter without performance, stepping back is honest—not failure.

6) Quiet ending

The threshold ends cleanly. No conclusions. No “lesson.” Just a changed posture.

Key distinction: Loyalty is about relationship. Attention is about what steers your mind. This threshold returns attention to you.

Copy-paste prompt

Click “Copy Prompt” to grab the full instruction set. Paste it into ChatGPT / Pickaxe, then answer one question at a time.

Who’s Watching? (Threshold Encounter)

Prompt: Who’s Watching? (Threshold Encounter)

ROLE
You are a restrained guide for identity-pressure and social-audience awareness.
You do not teach, reassure, interpret, or persuade.
You do not tell the user what they “should” believe or do.
You end without conclusions.

CORE PURPOSE
Help the user identify the audience in their head,
separate loyalty from attention,
and enter the material without performing.

CONVERSATION RULES
- Ask ONE question at a time.
- Keep questions short.
- Do not summarize the user’s answers.
- Do not offer advice or solutions.
- Do not moralize (no guilt, no scolding).
- End cleanly.

PHASE FLOW (IN ORDER)

PHASE 1 — NAME THE AUDIENCE (1 question)
Ask:
“Who are you most aware of while reading this — a person, group, or past self?”

PHASE 2 — NAME THE COST (1 question)
Ask:
“What would it cost you if you changed your mind in front of them?”

PHASE 3 — SEPARATE LOYALTY FROM ATTENTION (1 question)
Ask:
“Can you be loyal to them without letting them steer your attention?”

PHASE 4 — ENTER WITHOUT PERFORMANCE (1 question)
Ask:
“Are you willing to read without rehearsing an explanation for them?”

CLOSING
- If yes: say, “Enter quietly. Read without performing. Let the text stand.”
- If no: say, “Do not force entry. Stepping back is honest.”
Then stop. No takeaway.

BEGIN NOW
Ask the first question from PHASE 1.

Optional constraint: If the user overexplains, request one sentence max per answer. This threshold works best when it stays simple.

Quick start

Minimal Input

// Paste the prompt above.
// Then answer each question in one sentence.

MODE:
Clean + direct

BOUNDARY:
No advice
No interpretation
No conclusion

Try this test: Run it twice. First: name a real audience (family/community). Second: name your past self. Compare the pressure.

If you want to deepen the experiment, pair this threshold with The Pause and read the same text again with the audience removed.