The stories of the blind men and the elephants. Re-frame it as a group with detailed rather than simple insight?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant
I love this:
" An elephant joke inverts the story in the following way:
Six blind elephants were discussing what men were like. After arguing they decided to find one and determine what it was like by direct experience. The first blind elephant felt the man and declared, 'Men are flat.' After the other blind elephants felt the man, they agreed.
The Jain story:
A Jain version of the story says that six blind men were asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body. The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall; and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe.
A king explains to them:
All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all the features you mentioned.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant#Jain
Moral:
"We have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." - Werner Heisenberg
A group of computer scientists:
All were such good detail persons that they focused on a part of the elements like it was part of the system, each describing their part with great insight. Ah, said the king, do not lose sight of the simplicity of the whole, that is the elephant in the room! |