The Parable of the Blind Man
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Let's assume you've been blind since short after your birth. But even
though you have no sight, your brain is potentially able to store visual
impressions and reflect on them. Now let's suppose the ability to see is
returned to you for a week's time. What are you going to do? Will you
try to collect as many visual impressions as possible within this week
in order to process them later on? Will you pay attention to details and
think about them or will you regard this as a waste of your precious
time as a seeing person? Will you sleep during this week at all, do
chores, listen to the radio?
Now imagine an aggravated variant of this scenario: You suddenly receive the ability to see, yet you know that this will not last for good. When exactly you're going to become blind again, however, you don't know. How are you now going to act? All of this is just a parable for our life. Men isn't granted to live for ever. Nevertheless we spend a lot of time on unproductive, routine activities. On the other hand it is necessary to sleep and consume food, otherwise we would not be able to keep alive. All around there are sensations which we do not want to miss. Hurrying from one event to another we hardly find time to process our impressions and thus derive valuable insights for ourselves and others. Perhaps life isn't all about the quantity but the quality of experiences. |