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There is an old fable that goes as such:
Once upon a time, there was a great, large animal. The animal was taken to the gate of a city, where six blind men of the highest scientific curiosity were to inspect the animal in order to tell their countrymen both the nature of the animal and how to best care for it.
The fist blind man's hand fell upon the animal's tusks. “Ah,” he said, “This creature is a thing of bones: they even protrude through his skin.” Later on, years having passed, this man became an orthopedist.
The second blind man seized the animal's trunk, and identified its function. “what a nose,” he exclaimed. “Surely this is the most important part of the animal.” Accordingly, he became a rhinologist.
The third man chanced upon the animal's great flapping ear, and came to a similar conclusion. For him, the ear was everything. And so, in time, he became an otologist.
The fourth rested his hands on the huge chest and abdomen of the animal. “The contents of this barrel must be enormous,” he thought “and the pathological derangements infinite in number and variety.” Nothing would do but for this man to become an internist.
The fifth man caught hold of the animal's tail. He thought to himself, “What an utterly useless appendage. It might even be a source
* Material in this paper was first presented at a conference, “Building A Psychological Immune System.” sponsored by the Psychoanalytic Center of Northern New Jersey in October of 1990.
Page 105of trouble. Better to take it off.” This man, of course, became a surgeon.
Finally, the sixth man did not, like the others, depend on his sense of touch. Instead he only listened. He heard the animal approaching—the rattle of the chains and the shouts of the keepers. He heard the animal heave a great heave a great sigh as he trudged along.