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seven blind men 

in a small village, on the edge of a great forest, lived seven blind men.  each man was revered in the village and each was wise beyond their years.  one day, while sitting around the fire discussing wise and wonderful thoughts, they heard a loud crash coming from the open field, on the border of the forest.

the first wise man spoke, "i will go and investigate what could have mad such a loud noise."  as he arrived at the field, he started to feel around, he soon felt a large object.  it was large, hard, tall and round.  he returned and said, "it was a tree."  they all laughed.

the second wise man spoke, "i will go and investigate what could have mad such a loud noise."  as he arrived at the field, he started to feel around, he soon felt a long object.  it was hard, long and pointed.  he returned and said, "it was a spear."  they all laughed.

the third wise man spoke, "i will go and investigate what could have mad such a loud noise."  as he arrived at the field, he started to feel around, he soon felt a long thin object.  it was long, thin, wiry and fibrous.  he returned and said, "it was a rope."  they all laughed.

the fourth wise man spoke, "i will go and investigate what could have mad such a loud noise."  as he arrived at the field, he started to feel around, he soon felt a warm object.  it was long, thick, warm and it moved round.  he returned and said, "it was a large snake."  they all laughed.

the fifth wise man spoke, "i will go and investigate what could have mad such a loud noise."  as he arrived at the field, he started to feel around, he soon felt a tall object.  it was large, hard, tall and bumpy.  he returned and said, "it was a hill."  they all laughed.

the sixth wise man spoke, "i will go and investigate what could have mad such a loud noise."  as he arrived at the field, he started to feel around, he soon felt a thin object.  it was large, thin and flapped round.  he returned and said, "it was a great fan."  they all laughed.

just as the seventh man was about to leave, a young boy came into the village and asked the seven blind wise men if they could help him find his lost elephant.  at that moment each wise man knew what had happened.  each had felt a part of the elephant, and decided that it must represent the whole.

we do this a great deal, we see only part and believe it to be the whole.