This piece – “A Metaphor” – that I wrote a few years ago, closely relates to the themes discussed in our most recent episode (11 – see previous post) of the podcast:

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We are all in a dark room.

We all have torches.

Torches are tools for seeing.

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All our torches are fundamentally the same, but they have different batteries.

Batteries are tools for thinking.

Our choice of batteries affects the brightness of our torches.

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The beams of our torches can be focussed or diffuse.

The more we focus our beam the brighter it becomes.

The brighter the beam, the more clearly we see what we are looking at.

The more clearly we see what we looking at, the less we see everything else.

The more diffuse our beam, the more we see.

The more we see, the less clearly we see it.

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The room is crowded.

We can’t see beyond the width of our torch beam.

We can’t see anyone else’s torch beam.

We often bump into each other.

Bumping into each other is an unfortunate accident.

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The room’s darkness is not absolute.

If we switch our torches off our eyes can adjust.

If we let our eyes adjust we can see everything, dimly.

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Get the best batteries you can.

Vary the width of your beam constantly.

Switch off your torch for a while every single day.

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