Parable of the Elephant
Nov. 21st, 2002 07:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoweeEver heard the story of the Elephant and the blindfolded man? It goes something like this:
A blindfolded man is placed before an elephant and told to figure out what it is. He grabs the trunk and says it’s a rope. He grabs the leg and says it’s a tree, then he pushes the side and says it’s a boulder. (There’s actually more, but I don’t recall and there’s enough here to make my point anyway.)
In the end, the man grows frustrated because he says he can’t figure it out, he hasn’t been given enough facts. He feels fooled and when the blindfold is removed, he sees the elephant.
This has always been my problem with that particular parable; the man feels foolish because he’s a fool. When he touches it, he takes the size and shape into account, but not the way the flesh feels. He ignores details and jumps to conclusions without even attempting to put the pieces together.
Then he whines about being the victim because he was too lazy to put together a three piece puzzle.
A blindfolded man is placed before an elephant and told to figure out what it is. He grabs the trunk and says it’s a rope. He grabs the leg and says it’s a tree, then he pushes the side and says it’s a boulder. (There’s actually more, but I don’t recall and there’s enough here to make my point anyway.)
In the end, the man grows frustrated because he says he can’t figure it out, he hasn’t been given enough facts. He feels fooled and when the blindfold is removed, he sees the elephant.
This has always been my problem with that particular parable; the man feels foolish because he’s a fool. When he touches it, he takes the size and shape into account, but not the way the flesh feels. He ignores details and jumps to conclusions without even attempting to put the pieces together.
Then he whines about being the victim because he was too lazy to put together a three piece puzzle.
