Thursday 8 March 2012

The answer, my friend

Isn't it true that the answer to any question is often multi-faceted? A diamond may sparkle or look like just another pebble, depending on the intensity and direction of the light source, and the quality of its cut and setting.

How we perceive any given circumstance depends on the colour of the filter through which we look. What do we expect to see? Looking through a microscope will reveal wonders never imagined of symmetry and order. A magnifying glass reveals intricate beauty in the lowly household moth.

The story goes that a group of blind men were led to an elephant and asked to describe it. They separately described it as like a pillar, like a rope, like a tree branch, like a wall or like a pipe. None of them had the whole answer. Each of them likened their subject to something they had already experienced. The story has it they got into a great fight because they all thought they were right - and the others were all wrong.

Is all truth subjective then? I don't think so, but very often though, I think we need to admit that there's even an elephant in the room...

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