In which Wolf talks about our human limitations. Spoiler alert: disharmony isn't one of them. Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/oC-KddetPVE
As I discussed in a previous video, the root of all conflict lies in failing to identify a common objective. If we don't share anything deep and fundamental, like a system of values or larger shared purpose, then we either go our separate ways, or wind up in a war.
One of my favorite poems exemplifies this lack of shared objective. It's "The Blind Men and the Elephant," by John Godfrey Saxe. Here's how it goes:
It was six men of Indostan,
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"
The Third approach'd the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," -quoth he- "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," -quoth he,-
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said- "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," -quoth he,- "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
MORAL,
So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean;
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!
The last verse of the poem gives the moral: in theologic wars (arguments about ideology) everyone has a sense that they're right because they've experienced something that seems true, but none of their observations seem to line up with each other. What they're missing is the larger reality: the elephant itself.
Years ago I knew a man who had been blind from birth, we talked often and got to know each other. He had some remarkable abilities: you could give him a sentence or even a long paragraph, and would then recite it backwards. Not backwards like saying the words in reverse order; he could actually say it like you would hear it if you recorded someone saying it and then reversed the actual audio.
I can't remember how we got on this topic, but I remember a conversation where I asked him about his conception of skyscrapers. He said, "Well, I know they're tall enough that you can't touch the top." His knowledge was correct enough, and sufficient for his needs.
The poem about the six blind men, and my experience knowing an actual blind man taught me a lot about our limits as human beings. There are limits to what we can really know, and that's just life. The problem arises when we think what we know isn't just sufficient for our own happiness, but that everyone else who disagrees must be wrong.
So what common objective are the six men of Indostan "to learning much inclined," all missing? It's very simple: they refuse to acknowledge their common objective of sharing the same reality.
To share the same reality you have to agree on a set of "best practices" for deciding what is real. There are a number of these best practices, but here's one of the most basic: "Saying something is true doesn't make it so."
There might be some psychological value in constructively visualizing the goal of having a million dollars, but if that vision doesn't motivate you to do the hard work to create value worth that much money, it will never materialize. Reality doesn't work like that.
When people tell you their lived experience, you can respect that their story is true for them. But if they don't respect that their story, by itself, does not and should not have any power to compel you to change your world view, then simply put: they are the ones out of touch with reality.
The blind men in the poem all had their individual stories, their "lived experiences." What they didn't have was a way for them to actually go deeper than their stories to understand the reality underneath. This is what critical thinking and science is all about.
One thing scientists do is build models. We can imagine the six men getting together and building a wall next to a tree with a rope at one end, a spear and snake at the other, and a fan in the middle. It would be a silly model of an elephant, but it would still be a better approximation of reality than what they individually started with!
If they could go visit the elephant again and again, their model would become more refined over time. Being blind, they might still never think to ask how tall the elephant is; they would just assume that it's tall enough that they can't touch the top! Some things are just unknowable.
When we decide to stop yelling ideology at each other and start operating in harmony with our common objectives, we actually move away from conflict and toward peace.
But what do you think? Let me know in the comments, and you can also join my community by emailing me at wolfpack@bewareofwolf.com. I read every email I receive, and respond to many.
See you tomorrow!