The Blind Men and the Elephant: What “Elephanomics” Can Teach “Muromics”

W ritten by American poet John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887) in the mid-nineteenth century, “The Blind Men and the Elephant” is the relatively contemporary version of a parable that traces its roots back to the Asian subcontinent and Jainism, thought to be the religious precursor to Buddhism (Saxe 2005). In this parable, six blind scholars attempt to describe the outward appearance (or “phenotype”) of an elephant. The first blind man runs into the elephant’s “sturdy side” and declares the animal a “wall.” The second feels the elephant’s tusk “so very round and smooth and sharp” and pronounces the elephant to be a spear. The third feels the squirming trunk in his hands and proclaims the elephant to be a snake. The remaining three blind men declare the elephant as, respectively, a tree trunk (based on the leg), a fan (based on the ear), and a rope (based on the tail). And so . . .