Three Blind Men & An Elephant

by **UNEEK** Tue May 08, 2012 2:35 pm

Once there were three blind men who were given the task of
describing an elephant. Each was led into an elephant pen by way of a different
gate.

The first man approached the elephant from the front and
groped around the elephant’s trunk. The second encountered the elephant from
the rear and grabbed the tail. The last man walked into a leg and felt around
that part of the elephant.

Then the men were led out of the pen and asked to describe
the appearance of an elephant. Well, being blind, none of them had ever
actually seen an elephant, but each of them did have a very real perspective
from which to share; and share they did.

They all agreed that an elephant is round. After all, the
trunk, tail, and leg are all basically round in shape. But that is where the
similarities ended. Before long, the discussion turned ugly. Each man knew that
he was correct. After all, he had touched the elephant! You can’t get much
closer to a source that than that.

Two of the men, each armed with unequivocal, undeniable,
unimpeachable information, felt compelled to argue their cases. They felt it
was their duty to convince all other blind people the “truth” about the
elephant. These two men looked for every opportunity to pursue their duty,
sharing elephant truths.

And other blind people appreciated their efforts and began
to ask questions. Some members of the blind community liked hearing about the
“trunk” description. Others thought that the “tail” description was closer to
the truth. And these two men enjoyed their new-found popularity greatly.

In order to have more things to talk about, one of these
same two men, researched Braille articles about elephants. Unfortunately, some
of the articles were written by folks with ulterior motives—ivory hunters,
ruthless poachers, who cared only about the monetary value of elephants.

The blind man either didn’t know that some of the articles
were intentionally deceptive, or perhaps he didn’t care. After all, the
articles did provide talking points, which in turn increased his popularity.

The second argumentative blind man was content simply to
argue. The louder he argued the more attention he got. Healthy, informed debate
is good and productive. Too bad this one fellow would occasionally resort to
name calling, all the while claiming to be the only source of real elephant
truth.

Nevertheless, he maintained a substantial following among
the blind community and, to a large degree, that was all that mattered; much
more so than the elephant.

What about the third blind man? Well, he was out there all
the time. He too shared his perspective of the elephant, his own brand of
elephant truth. His perspective was limited too, but he shared what he knew to
be true.

The difference is, this man stayed true to his
mission—sharing truth about elephants. He didn’t rail against the tail
perspective. He didn’t throw a tantrum when new trunk information got released.
He merely shared what he knew and let members of the blind community do with it
what they will.

As you can see, not all the blind men behaved the same way.
They did however, have several things in common. They all had great connections
(which explains why they were selected as elephant describers in the first
place).

These connections afforded them a certain measure of special
status within the blind community. Additionally, all three blind men had valid
perspectives. After all, their descriptions of the trunk, tail and leg were all
accurate.

And let’s not forget the last thing they had in common—they
were all blind! Special status or not, they were all members of the blind
community. Thus, while all of them had real information regarding a portion of
the elephant, none of them understood the whole elephant.

Ultimately, the complete truth about the elephant resides
with one Person—the Creator of the elephant. If only the blind men knew this. I
believe they did. Perhaps all that talk about the elephant created a temporary
blind spot.

Go Elephant! Go RV!!!!!

by SEBtopdog Tue May 08, 2012 3:00 pm

Excellent parable, UNEEK! Thanks very much.

by **UNEEK** Wed May 09, 2012 7:04 pm

I am surprised that so few read this post - I guess the title was not catchy enough ?? Little do they know how relevant it is to today and our investment -and particularly to the intel providers --

Oh well it just goes to show that what I know is true -- some will read - few will listen and less will hear -- or something like that --

Thank you SEBtopdog for your kind words - much appreciated -- I hope to have something new to contribute soon-

Blessings to you and all -- UNEEK

by **alleyrose** Wed May 09, 2012 11:53 pm

Well I thought it was great and extremely relevant! Thanks Uneek!

by Catherine Thu May 10, 2012 12:18 am

Loved it and just read it now, Uneek.

There have been 37 views thus far, just not everyone replies to threads. :study: They may just be "lurking" around!