Wednesday, June 24, 2009

“The story of the blind men and an elephant originated from India. In various versions of the tale, a group of blind men touch an elephant to learn what it is like. Each one touches a different part, but only one part, such as the tusk or the leg or the trunk or the ear. They then compare notes on what they felt, and learn that they are in complete disagreement. The story is used to indicate that reality may be viewed differently depending on one’s perspective, suggesting that what seems an absolute truth may be relative due to the deceptive nature of half-truths.” (Wikipedia.)

In reality we are more like the fleas behind the elephants ears or maybe we are like the bacterias in its intestines, or maybe even something much smaller. Our perspective is extremely limited. No human being knows but a tiny little fraction of the totality.

This doesn’t mean that nothing is important. I’m not advocating ethical relativism. To the fleas, it is important to know what is right and what is wrong. What the elephant think is nothing fleas have to care about.