The Story of the Seven Blind Men and the Elephant

[ISamuelII]

I played the one at the elephants leg when I was a kid in 1968-69 at kpbs.

[WackyHaters357]

the seventh blind touch the penis of the elephant

[SatoTM2]

it's six men not seven

[ProFriend]

@SatoTM2 In Saxe's poem it was six - in my notes you'll see that I added the seventh as a way to tie it all together. I don't know if the original Indian fable that inspired Saxe also had six, but like many folk stories the number probably varied with the telling.

[thallassocracy]

The final verse of Saxe's poem clearly states that he intended his poem to be seen as a commentary on religious disputes.

You should read it.

[ProFriend]

@thallassocracy That was his spin on it. From what I've been able to learn, the fable that inspired Saxe to write the poem had a broader purpose, as does my video.

[Brysonmdulack]

Arent all of us blind? it seems to me that this scenario is somewhat flawed because the person telling the story assumes that they are not blind and they can somehow magically see the whole elephant when that is not the case.

[shattuckd]

Fix the typo at 1:24 (elepant) and I can use this in my high school classroom. Well done.

[ProFriend]

Thanks for that. Can't imagine how I missed it! Quite embarrassing for a book editor. I've uploaded a corrected version.

[eagleeye4christ]

There is a truth to this story. They were all blind.

[brdinus]

This brings wisdom to any discussion, understanding different perspectives brings greater understanding. But if those perspectives are not put into proper perspective, then it has the potential of bringing greater misunderstanding.

An elephant is the sum of his parts arranged in the proper way. A sum of his parts put together in a different way would be a gross misrepresentation. Would it not?

[freedomtou]

sweeeet! I made a similar video of this story that i read 7 years ago and is till stuck in my head. Nice music ;)

[njutila]

What is this song?

[ProFriend]

It's "Sparks" by the UK pop group Coldplay, covered by an American bluegrass band called Old School Freight Train. The CD is called "Pickin' on Coldplay." I should have credited it.

[whirlpoolzend]

I would contend that none of us have faculty to see the "big picture", just snippets!

I changed my channel-heading a while ago & today went looking for the parable on YT; yours was first (& last) port of call...I saw sparks! ;-)

[ProFriend]

Everyone sees things through the "filter" of their own experience and education, of course. The lesson here is that you should always look beyond that filter if you want to understand the bigger picture. Think of the old expression, "to a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." That describes the issue in a nutshell.