The Versions

We've all heard some version of it:

The story goes that a group of blind men (or men in the dark) touch what they later learn is an elephant. Each one feels a different part, but only one part, such as the elephant's side, the tail, a leg, or a tusk. The one touching the side says, "It's a wall." The one touching the tail says, "Its a rope." The one touching the leg says, "It's a tree." And the one touching the tusk says, "It's a pipe." (Or some variation on the above).

They begin squabbling, and this is intended to illustrate the limitation of human perspective, that we shouldn't be dogmatic. Then some wise person intervenes and says something like, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched a different part of an elephant. The elephant has all the features you mentioned. You were just touching one part. So it is with truth ... blah ... blah ... blah ..." Remember?

Problem is though that the men weren't all right. They were all wrong! None was touching a wall, rope, tree, or pipe. They were all touching an elephant! There are lessons to be learned from the story about the limitations of finite perspective and whatnot. But let's not fall into fallacy to illustrate a truth. If one perceives only part of a truth and calls it what it is not, then that is not truth! It's error. :)

-Michael Millier