Blind
The Tale of the Six Blind Men and the Elephant
Six blind men encountered an elephant one day. The first blind man felt the leg and said, "Ah, the elephant is like a tree trunk." The second felt the elephant's massive side and said, "Ah, the elephant is like a wall." The third felt the ear and said, "The elephant is like a large fan." The fourth felt the trunk and said, "The elephant is like a python." The fifth felt the tusk and said, "The elephant is like a spear." And the last felt the tail and said, "Clearly, clearly, the elephant is like rope." And although none had a full view of the elephant, they had all experienced it, and they were all in some ways right and in some ways wrong.
That's a good story, but you forgot the seventh blind man.
I'm sorry? What seventh blind man?
The one who thought the elephant was like a bathtub.
...Bathtub? I don't follow. Did the elephant spray water--?
No, that would be like a shower. I mean a "sit in it and soak" bathtub.
Hmm.... Okay. I give up. How is an elephant like a bathtub?
I don't know either. But isn't it amazing? We should all learn from what he's discovered about elephants. Maybe I'll tell a biologist or two.
But I'm not seeing HOW an elephant is like a bathtub.
Well, of course not. You haven't seen the entire elephant either.
Yes I have.
But you haven't. The point of the story is that we're all blind and no one's seen the whole elephant, so we all experience pieces but only pieces. Now, if we WEREN'T blind, we might see that the seventh man missed the elephant entirely and walked straight into the lake.
...clever. But also cheating. He didn't experience the elephant at all.
But you can't KNOW whether he experienced the elephant unless you can see the whole elephant yourself. What if they'd encountered a hippo instead? Does the blind man who thinks the hippo is like a python have a piece of the puzzle, or is it likely he simply grabbed a nearby hose by accident?
Probably the latter. But--
And yet you're just as sure an elephant IS partially like a python, but not like a bathtub. That's because YOU know for sure what the whole elephant and the whole hippo look like, right?
Okay, fine. Your point?
My point is that the whole story's supposed to be a metaphor for God and people's views of Him, and it's a way of saying "everyone's equally right." But how can you know? Maybe someone's explored God more thoroughly and has both the trunk AND the leg, while someone else has just gotten themselves soaked. So how can you know that EVERYONE'S seen a piece, but only a piece, of God -- for that matter, that no one's piece is more or less accurate than the others -- unless you're claiming YOU know EXACTLY what God looks like?
(Credit to Randy Newman -- the author, not the musician -- for pointing out the flaw in the Tale, although the seventh blind man was my own idea.)
Six blind men encountered an elephant one day. The first blind man felt the leg and said, "Ah, the elephant is like a tree trunk." The second felt the elephant's massive side and said, "Ah, the elephant is like a wall." The third felt the ear and said, "The elephant is like a large fan." The fourth felt the trunk and said, "The elephant is like a python." The fifth felt the tusk and said, "The elephant is like a spear." And the last felt the tail and said, "Clearly, clearly, the elephant is like rope." And although none had a full view of the elephant, they had all experienced it, and they were all in some ways right and in some ways wrong.
That's a good story, but you forgot the seventh blind man.
I'm sorry? What seventh blind man?
The one who thought the elephant was like a bathtub.
...Bathtub? I don't follow. Did the elephant spray water--?
No, that would be like a shower. I mean a "sit in it and soak" bathtub.
Hmm.... Okay. I give up. How is an elephant like a bathtub?
I don't know either. But isn't it amazing? We should all learn from what he's discovered about elephants. Maybe I'll tell a biologist or two.
But I'm not seeing HOW an elephant is like a bathtub.
Well, of course not. You haven't seen the entire elephant either.
Yes I have.
But you haven't. The point of the story is that we're all blind and no one's seen the whole elephant, so we all experience pieces but only pieces. Now, if we WEREN'T blind, we might see that the seventh man missed the elephant entirely and walked straight into the lake.
...clever. But also cheating. He didn't experience the elephant at all.
But you can't KNOW whether he experienced the elephant unless you can see the whole elephant yourself. What if they'd encountered a hippo instead? Does the blind man who thinks the hippo is like a python have a piece of the puzzle, or is it likely he simply grabbed a nearby hose by accident?
Probably the latter. But--
And yet you're just as sure an elephant IS partially like a python, but not like a bathtub. That's because YOU know for sure what the whole elephant and the whole hippo look like, right?
Okay, fine. Your point?
My point is that the whole story's supposed to be a metaphor for God and people's views of Him, and it's a way of saying "everyone's equally right." But how can you know? Maybe someone's explored God more thoroughly and has both the trunk AND the leg, while someone else has just gotten themselves soaked. So how can you know that EVERYONE'S seen a piece, but only a piece, of God -- for that matter, that no one's piece is more or less accurate than the others -- unless you're claiming YOU know EXACTLY what God looks like?
(Credit to Randy Newman -- the author, not the musician -- for pointing out the flaw in the Tale, although the seventh blind man was my own idea.)