December 21, 2006
A Modern Story of Three Wise Men
By Stan Dyer
A long time ago, three wise men followed a star to discover the birth of a new world. Recently, I read two articles that reminded me of three "other" wise men, and a story about discovering truth.
I am not familiar with either the author or the origins of the story, but the message is clear. Three wise men were blindfolded and led one at a time into a room where an elephant stood. Each was asked to discern what was in the room without removing his blindfold. The first, upon touching the elephant's trunk, concluded a "snake" was in the room. The second, upon contacting a leg, concluded a "tree" was in the room. The third, upon grasping the tail, concluded a "rope" was in the room. All were surprised to discover the elephant once their blindfolds were removed. Now, move to modern times.
Recently, I read an article about a team of scientists who determined that women's brains were wired "differently" from men's brains. The article made no mention of a control group, no history of the test subjects, and no other mitigating factors beyond simple biology. It sounds like these "wise men" touched the trunk and discovered a snake.
From birth, people are conditioned. Baby girls are dressed in pink and baby boys are dressed in blue. Growing up, each group is given different toys, different clothes, different expectations and held to different standards. It seems as though these things might affect a child's "wiring". Yet, these modern wise men using modern devices discovered differences they could only attribute to the chromosome mix of the subjects. Perhaps they need to remove their blindfolds and see if their snake isn't an elephant.
Another article I read concerned another group of wise men at a school district that determined girls learn differently than boys, and it would benefit both groups if they were separated by sex, yet given an equal opportunity to learn. Does that read separate but equal? Hey, that's Plessy V Ferguson, 1895. Wise men in 1895 applied the same blind logic to different groups 111 years ago. That lasted 60 years until someone named Brown challenged the Board of Education in Kansas and won. Now, 51 years later, some new wise men turned full circle to took us back to 1895? Is that progress? It wasn't right then, and it's not right now. Maybe these wise men need to let go of their trees, take off their blindfolds, and see if the elephant before them.
Now, it's your turn. With your blindfold in place, walk into the room and tell me what you see. Remember, no peeking! If you grab a tail, think first before you tell me it's a rope. If the rope doesn't snag you, you might be trampled by the elephant. Instead, let go of the tail, and try to remove your blindfold. It might not be as easy as you think. It's been there for years, and secured with large doses of societal conditioning. If you can manage removal, open your eyes and look at your elephant.
Your elephant looks pretty much like every other elephant. No matter how big, how small, what race, what religion, what creed, which sex, what nationality, how young, or how old, it's still an elephant. Your blindfold worked like a stereotype. It led you to focus on one small aspect to determine everything about something much larger. There's your truth. Preconceived notions work as effectively as blindfolds, but only if we allow them to remain.
This year, resolve to be a real wise man or wise woman and follow the star to a new world. Try to remove your blindfold and see the beauty of the big picture rather than focusing on the misleading information of the smaller view. We will never conquer stereotypes and the misinformation they pass on until we all realize that truly wise men and women don't wear blindfolds.