The Three Blind Men and the Elephant – my way

Perhaps you’ve already heard about the king, who was told he had received the gift of an elephant…

Never having seen an elephant, he called for his high priest, a pious man who had blinded himself so that he would not see challenges to his faith. He sent the priest to examine the elephant and report back.

The priest found, on a table beside the cage, a book about elephants which he could not, and most certainly would not, read. The priest’s hand encountered the elephant’s trunk. He gasped and ran to the other end of the cage where the elephant’s tail swished him across the nose.

Ah! He sneezed. It is a great serpent. It reminds us of the story of Adam in the one true book. It speaks of the dangers of knowledge and warns us not to attend to heresies. With that, he promptly burned the book about elephants.

The king then sent his librarian, who, after a lifetime of reading by candlelight was also blind. The librarian gingerly ran his fingers over the elephant until he came to its great ears. He then exclaimed “All is not lost! We may be able to salvage some pages from this renowned book about elephants.”

Finally the king sent his naturalist. After many years of staring into microscopes and telescopes this poor man was forced to wear thick glasses if only to tell night from day.

Upon colliding with the elephant’s legs he postulated “Item: a small copse of trees of unknown genus. A variety of commonplace flora found in both hemispheres and utilized by forest or jungle fauna for shade, food and as a habitat. Additionally, from its wood, homo-fabricans (the tool maker) has been known to create furniture, boxes and books about elephants.”

It is often said that none of these men were completely in error, but that’s just being nice. They were all wrong.

It is also said that, if only they had spoken to each other, they would have known the full picture. This too is incorrect.

What then, does this story tell us? In truth there are four lessons we can take away:

1) When you receive a gift. Open it before your guests leave.

2) Don’t be afraid to Read The F’ing Manual (RTFM)

3) If you have a new problem, don’t send a specialist.

4) You have eyes, look for yourself.