“Hello people. Tonight I am going to tell you a story. ‘The Old Man and a Wall’. You must be knowing it already, this is one of the most popular short fiction ever told. Still I want to repeat it.
This is the story of a time when there was no technology, no machines, no knowledge of advance sciences whatsoever. People lived a simple life and agriculture was the most popular profession. Trading had just begun as people used to take their produce in animal driven carts to distant villages.
In those times lived an old man named Toidi. His body was skinny and weak. His head had lost all of its hair and had a long beard that touched the ground. As an old man he was capable of doing nothing. So he simply sat in a chair all day all night next to a road. Behind him was a one big wall, 10 ft high and 100 m wide on both sides. There was a small door that he kept closed at all times.
This old man had no other job but to sit and talk to the long-distance travelers who used this road. Whenever he saw someone he used to call them and then brag about the large property he owns just beyond the wall.
“Looking at me you won’t be able to tell that I’m very rich. Just beyond this wall is a large land that I own. The soil is so rich and water is so abundant that the crop I produce feeds my entire village. I can say this with pride that it was not passed down to me by my father. I built it myself.” he would say proudly. Then he would go on to narrate the hardships he went through to acquire this land.
People used to get very excited hearing his tales. He used to conclude the conversation with, “Do you want to see my land?” With full excitement people would agree for a tour.
“I’m an old man so I can’t come but you can go in. There is the door.”
Excited people used to go open the door. What they would see was very shocking. As it turns out, this old wall was a remains of an old structure built on a mountain. Just beyond the door was a steep cliff.
That instant the people would realize the truth. There was no land, no property that this old man owned. While few would respond with laughs and curses, most felt sad for this old delusional man. They would give him some food before resuming their journey. This is how the old man survived for as long as he did.
Now, we use this story to define stupidity. “Don’t take pride in something without working to discover the truth and validity of it.” Using this motto we have worked hard to acquire the absolute knowledge of the universe. We now know so much about the universe that we are practically gods. All this was a result of one desperate want that we don’t want to end up like that old man.
That old man is an idiot. That’s what we are taught not to be like. But, is this the whole story? Over the many years of research I’ve done in the field of sciences. I have gained a certain wisdom. When I heard this story a few days ago I realize that we were told only one side of it. We know nothing about the old man.
I believe the old man was not an idiot. He was a hard working being who did a lot of work to achieve his goal of owning a large piece of land. But due to some unfortunate event he lost it all. When he was living his last days, he didn’t want to spend it in sorrow and regret for what he didn’t have. That’s why he cooked this story. The old man told this story to himself so many times that he actually started believing that he owned a large property beyond the wall. Believing in this fake story gave him a sense of false satisfaction and happiness he deserved after living a long tough life.
This is what we should do.
There was a time when the Trimi was one peaceful global community. But since the time we learned that our world is going to end we had arguments, fights, wars and now we have divided our beautiful world into factions. We have lost the ability to appreciate life due to the fear of a doomed future. Hence it is important, now more than ever, to understand the true moral of this story.
The moral that we should learn from this story is ‘Ignorance is bliss’.”
END
This was a speech given by a top scientist named Sam Ace of an alien species called Trimi. Over the many centuries of study he had realized that his people knew too much about the universe to enjoy this illusion of life and reality.
So he first proposed the idea of leading a simpler life by destroying all the godlike knowledge they possessed. But that meeting didn’t go in his favour.
Next time he retold this story he proposed an idea to build a pocket universe (that came to be known as Akari system) where they would be born as lesser intelligent beings. He believed that the lack of absolute knowledge of the universe would help them appreciate the life they would live no matter how short. So as to pitch this idea, he started with the story ‘The Old Man and a Wall.’
This worked as he got the permission to build a solar system.
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This another post that reinforces the idea of why we should pursue the principal of ignorance is bliss.
back to STORIES
First of all thank you for reading this post. What you read here is not my absolute belief set in stone. I am always open for discussion and future alterations to the post. Actually I consider these posts as a conversation starter. So if you have an opinion to share, please do comment down below.