The Blind Men and the Elephant

The story of the blind men trying to describe an elephant is a very old story.

The Analogy:

Some blind men were once asked to describe an elephant. Having no sight, they had to determine what it was like by feel.

One man, feeling the elephant's leg, says that an elephant is a type of tall tree. It is rough, vertical, and very thick and strong.

Another blind man, feeling its ear, said that an elephant is a tropical plant with a very rough, thick and broad leaf.

Another blind man, feeling its tusk, said that an elephant is a manmade object, smooth and tapered to a point on one end.

Another blind man, feeling its trunk, said that an elephant is a very large snake, muscular and strong and extremely thick and rough-skinned, like a crocodile.

Another blind man, feeling the elephant's tail said that an elephant is a type of rope, strong enough, but easily frayed on the end.

Every one of these men were correct, as far as their senses could take them, but overall, their limited senses hid the truth from them all.

The Meaning of the Analogy:

It is easy to see how this analogy fits the process of remote viewing. The viewer has only limited sensory contact with the target site, and perceives only that part with which he has any contact at all. Wanting to provide an answer, he defines the entire target by what he has perceived. Another viewer, tasked with the same target, will also have limited perceptions, and define the target according to what he has perceived.

It is in the compilation of the different viewpoints that the real target begins to emerge.

This has two very great implications for the entire remote viewing process:

1. A viewer should not spend his time defining what he thinks the target IS, but should instead spend his time describing what he perceives. One of the major rules in Controlled Remote Viewing is:

"Describe, Don't Identify"

2. A viewer's work rarely ever stands alone. When the police or any other customer uses the information provided by a remote viewer, that information should be integrated with other information on hand to get a clearer picture of the truth. The military, for which this was developed, never sent troops out on the word of a remote viewer. In fact, they rarely ever did anything on the word of a single viewer working alone. The information provided by a team of remote viewers was filtered into a pool of other information gathered by "spy in the sky" satellites, ground agents, communications interceptions, etc. If you are ever asked to work for the police, a corporation, or any other customer, you should not expect them to drop everything and act solely on your information alone. An elephant is not a type of tree.