Quote:
Originally Posted by MrsCogan  ... The elephant isn't changing shape as each person feels up a different part of the poor beast. In fact this is a nice metaphor for science. Scientists are each feeling a different part of the elephant. ..
I escape from the loop by talking to the other blind men. |
I disagree with you there, MrsCogan. The elephant, in fact, DOES change shape as it is felt up by the blind men. Both its physical and its experiential shape shifts in the course of being touched. And our shape shifts when we're touched, too.
The elephant and the blind men is a good example of a metaphor, by the way. Saying "You have to do this, you have to do that" is harder to see as the metaphor you claimed it was; perhaps you would like to tell us what that remark represents. Maybe you meant it was
a manner of speaking rather than being a metaphor -- there was another example of that here in the boards earlier. For me, and I believe for others, being informed that "you have to do as I say," whether it's meant literally or otherwise, occurs as a mandate, like you are saying "you
should do as I say" (it's for your own good!). I'm not a big fan of *shoulds*. It's like saying, my way is the right way and anybody who disagrees is wrong and must be shown what is right. It's not a manner of speaking, in my experience, that fosters freedom, understanding or love in conversation. That is why I was inviting you to try on an attitude of accepting without judgement what the folks are saying here. Accepting without judgement doesn't mean you have to believe as they do. Evaluation is still possible within acceptance!
And of course, being right and making others wrong is something you and I are free to do, of course. I'll bet it's a road that leads to another sort of understanding for lots of people, myself included (you can probably see that's what I'm looking at for myself here by writing to you). You are naturally free to accept or decline my invitation; I just wanted you to understand that it was an invitation to escape from the loop.