A little more about perspectives

Last week the idea of perspective was a theme. Today I remembered this little story of the 6 blind men and the elephant.

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”

The Second, feeling of the tusk
Cried, “Ho! what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me `tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up he spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope.
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

Moral:

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

A good point. We all “see” more clearly from our vantage point. And yet, I’d like to add the additional value of experience. What if the first blind man had the time and made the effort to visit the front of the animal and touch the ear, the tusk, the trunk, the mouth. And maybe perhaps he went lower and felt the knee and made it a point to discern the distance from the ground to the elephant’s body. What if he made it to the rear of the elephant and felt the backside and the tail. And what if throughout this process he heard the elephant make his mighty sound, stepped in some piles of elephant poop, perhaps got sprayed by elephant urine or got a big blow of water or other goo from the elephant trunk. And what if after days and days the elephant grew to like the blind man? Do you think perhaps he might have a more thorough, more well rounded idea of what an elephant is, the good, the bad and the ugly?

That was my entire point when I mention perspective from the vantage point of age, wisdom and experience. Not that the perspective the less experienced and younger is not valid, but that perhaps it is not as complete and thorough yet because there simply has not been enough time.

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