The Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant (found here):
Once upon a time there was a certain raja who called to his servant and said, “Come, good fellow, go and gather together in one place all the men of Savatthi who were born blind… and show them an elephant.” “Very good, sire,” replied the servant, and he did as he was told. He said to the blind men assembled there, “Here is an elephant,” and to one man he presented the head of the elephant, to another its ears, to another a tusk, to another the trunk, the foot, back, tail, and tuft of the tail, saying to each one that that was the elephant.
When the blind men had felt the elephant, the raja went to each of them and said to each, “Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me, what sort of thing is an elephant?”
Thereupon the men who were presented with the head answered, “Sire, an elephant is like a pot.” And the men who had observed the ear replied, “An elephant is like a winnowing basket.” Those who had been presented with a tusk said it was a ploughshare. Those who knew only the trunk said it was a plough; others said the body was a grainery; the foot, a pillar; the back, a mortar; the tail, a pestle, the tuft of the tail, a brush.
Then they began to quarrel, shouting, “Yes it is!” “No, it is not!” “An elephant is not that!” “Yes, it’s like that!” and so on, till they came to blows over the matter.
The Parable of the Blind Men and the Griffalump
Once upon a time there was a certain raja who called to his servant and said, “Come, good fellow, go and gather together in one place all the men of Savatthi who were born blind. I wish to play a trick on them.” “Very good, sire,” replied the servant, and he did as he was told. He said to the blind men assembled there, “Here is a new animal I have discovered, called a griffalump,” and to one man he presented a pot, to another a winnowing basket, to another a plowshare, to the others a grainery, a pillar, a mortar, a pestle, a brush, saying to each one that this was the griffalump.
When the blind men had felt the respective objects, the raja went to each of them and said to each, “Well, blind man, have you seen the griffalump? Tell me, what sort of thing is a griffalump?”
“Thereupon the men who were presented with the pot answered, “Sire, a griffalump is like a pot.” And the men who had observed the ear replied, “A griffalump is like a winnowing basket.” Those who had been presented with a ploughshare said it was a ploughshare. Those who had touched only the trunk said it was like a plough; others said that a griffalump was like a grainery, a pillar, a mortar, a pestle, a brush.
Then they began to quarrel, shouting, “Yes it is!” “No, it is not! a griffalump is not that!” “Yes, it’s like that!” and so on, till they came to blows over the matter.
Question: How can you determine, from the perspective of the blind person, which parable you are in?
Religion and Philosophy
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