John stabs out his left eye with a knife.
"Why did you do that?" his friend Tony asks. "Don't stab out your eyes!"
"I had to do it," John says. "It was important."
"That's crazy," Tony says. "Only crazy people deliberate hurt themselves like this. You need to get help."
"You're the crazy one. I had to stab out my eye. It's part of my philosophical approach to life. Can you truly see, if you insist on seeing with eyes alone? If thine eye offend thee, stab it out. Etcetera."
"Your philosophy is stupid."
"You're stupid!"
* * *
The next day, John stabs out his other eye, and is now blind.
"What were you thinking?" Tony asks, horrified.
"I had to do it! Absolutely essential. All part of my philosophical approach."
"It's madness!"
"It's not madness at all. It makes complete and perfect sense. In the valley of the blind, the one eyed man is king. I don't believe in kings, so I took the next logical step. I can assure you that I have achieved a new level of insight, thanks to the actions I have recently undergone."
"Nonsense!" insists Tony.
John waves his hands, brushing away the criticism. "By the way, I am blind and you have two eyes. You should give me one of yours."
"What?" Tony says, stunned.
"It makes perfect sense. I have no eyes and you have two. You should share."
"If I give you one of my eyes, you're just going to stab it out."
"Yes, I will," John admits. "Almost certainly. But I am blind. You need to help me. Give me an eye."
"You are blind because you stabbed out your eyes!" Tony yells. "It's not like you were born this way!"
"Yes, I did stab out my eyes. But as I have already explained, I had very good reasons for doing that. And those reasons are entirely beyond the point. Clearly you should give me one of your eyes."
"I'll get you a cane," Tony offers.
"I don't want a cane," John says.
"I'll get you a seeing eye dog."
"I don't want a dog."
"How about a nurse to help you out around the house?"
"I don't want a nurse."
"What if I get you a doctor? He can help you with your eye stabbing problem. Maybe if you can sort that out, then I'd be more comfortable giving you an eye."
"I don't have an eye stabbing problem," John says. "Just give me one of your eyes. Sure, I'll stab it out as well, but that's not the point. I have no eyes, and you have two. You should share with me."
"There's no way I am giving you one of my eyes. You're just going to destroy it."
John loses his temper. "You're greedy! You're a fascist! You have two eyes and I have none and you refuse to share! I don't know why you're such a bastard! Obviously you're no friend of mine!"
"I offered several other options," Tony points out.
"I don't want a cane, a dog, a nurse, or a doctor! I told you want I want. Give me one of your eyes! If you won't do that, you're a jerk!"
"Fine. I'm a jerk. A jerk with two working eyeballs."
* * *
A week later, Tony is walking down the street and he runs into his friend Sam.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sam demands.
"What do you mean?" Tony asks, startled.
"I just ran into this blind guy, John, and he's going around town, saying you won't give him one of your eyes! He says you've known each other for years! Are you that greedy, you won't help a friend in need? Are you really that selfish? I can't believe you!"
"Listen, do you even know why the guy is blind?"
"It doesn't matter why he's blind!" Sam yells.
"Do you know how else I offered to help him out?"
"Who cares? You're his friend. He's blind. You have two eyes. He has none. Give him one of your eyes! Help your friends!"
"You don't understand," insists Tony.
Sam won't hear any of it. "I thought I knew you," Sam says. "I thought you were a good guy. I guess I was wrong."
* * *
After a month of running into people, all giving him a hard time the way Sam did, Tony finally gives in. He'll give John one of his eyes. Anything to stop all of his friends and acquaintances and coworkers -- everyone in the town -- from looking down on him.
Tony and John arrange to go to a hospital. The surgery is performed. Now John and Tony each have one eyeball.
"You're a good friend," John says warmly. "I knew you could rise above your social programming. I knew you would see the light. Sharing is what friends do. You are a good person."
"You're welcome," Tony says, feigning happiness. He can't help but feel he has been tricked into doing something he had no desire to do.
* * *
The day after the surgery, John stabs out his new eye.
Despite knowing this was going to happen, Tony can't contain himself. "What were you thinking? You're blind again! Who's going to help you now?"
"I had an epiphany," John explains. "I realized that a person is better off blind. Many soothsayers and wise men were blind. The visual world just gets in the way of really seeing. That's why I stabbed out my eye. The one eye you gave me finally allowed me to truly understand. Despite being blind, now I really can see."
"That makes no sense at all," Tony says.
John waves away the criticism with his hands. "You know, you really should consider stabbing out your one remaining eye. Then you'd understand what I'm talking about."
* * *
The next day, Tony packs his things and moves to a new town.
18 comments:
It's a ridiculous and faulty comparison. A much better one, you have 5 eyes but you only need 2. You can remove your extra eyes at any time without any pain and then grow new ones to replace the ones you've removed. Similarly, the person who you give your eyes to can implant them without any pain.
Some men are able to grow dozens and dozens of eyes but don't share any of them. Some men can grow three eyes are willing to share them.
"I have no eye. You have to give me an eye."
(I have a problem. Solve my problem.)
"I can't give you an eye. How about a cane, a dog, a nurse, or a doctor?"
(I will help you solve your problem.)
"I don't want any of those things! Give me an eye!"
(I don't want help, I want you to fix it!)
"I'm not going to do that."
To put it in your terms, Tony is trying to teach John to grow his own eyes, instead of merely handing over one of his own eyes. There's really not much pointing giving away eyes if John is going to stab them out.
To put it another way, some people are so deeply entrenched in their problems that they've started thinking of them as solutions.
It does no good to try to teach an old dog new tricks if the old dog starves in the meantime.
A Man creates, a Parasite asks "where's my share"?
-Andrew Ryan
Mmm...
I see what you mean.
Mezamashii wrote:
It does no good to try to teach an old dog new tricks if the old dog starves in the meantime.
What do you do when the dog thinks starving to death is its best trick?
Stop trying to be master, stop trying to teach it new tricks and appreciate the pureness of who it is.
What do you need to do? Give unconditional love. Give until you have nothing left to give.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfZUxPF7AMI
Sounds like Nik may well already be at 'until you have nothing left to give'.
Unconditional love sounds like a great idea on paper. That is, until you realize that giving yourself entirely to someone else, without any strings attached, is exactly the sort of thing a cult leader demands from his followers.
A real relationship is based on negotiation and balance, where everyone's needs are met as best as possible. Trust slowly builds over time, the lines of communication grow stronger, and things improve.
If one person is offering unconditional love, and the other is not -- the relationship will inevitably fail.
Romantics often talk about the idea of two people blurring together. It's true that sort of intimacy can be wonderful. But day to day, it's important to remember where you end and your partner begins. Otherwise you can get lost inside someone else's problems. Or you can blame them for pain that's actually inside yourself.
Best of luck in your "real" relationships. I'll continue to enjoy my "unreal" ones.
*grin*
oh, and by the way,
Bananas are marvy.
Yay for Bananas!
BEHOLD THE ATHEIST'S NIGHTMARE!
The banana.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z-OLG0KyR4
An Internet classic.
Bilateral “unconditional love” is another way of saying, “the blind leading the blind,” and you both end up in a ditch.
Unilateral “unconditional love” is another way of saying, “I see what you are, and I will tolerate it.” while the other person says, “Screw you! I’m going to take you for everything you have, and throw YOU into a ditch”
“No love” is another way of saying, “WE both see and realize what we BOTH are and what we BOTH need to do so that we can BOTH survive each other (and a ditch) by moving on with our separate lives.”
Wow. Have *any* of you looked up the definition of unconditional love? Cause none of you have a clue what it is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconditional_positive_regard
Kropotkin-kun: Have *you* looked up the definition of unconditional love? If you have, maybe you could post a link or something...
all my positive regards, The Waysider
Hilarious. He tells us none of us know the definition, and he posts a link to "unconditional positive regard". And not, you know...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconditional_love
Play nice, Nik, the boy means well and is trying hard.
And as Mezamashii and K-Kun argue, love is good. And as the disappointingly unveiled parable and Nik's comment-post argues "if one person is offering unconditional love, and the other is not -- the relationship will inevitably fail."
Compassion is a moral good. Compassion does not require that you be a gullible rube. The most despicable sort of con-men argue that it does, but this argument, naturally, is just part of the con.
Monte, if you have extra and easily replaceable eyes, you are of course free to distribute them as you see fit. But I don't see where you get off presuming to get to make that call for someone else.
A brilliant parable!
- RG>
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