Six blind men and an elephant called the world

One of my favorite stories from world literature is the story of the six blind men who are instructed to examine an elephant, and then give their opinion on what they think it is.

I think most people are familiar with the story; one fellow examines the nose and says he thinks the creature is a snake, and so on... with each man examining a different part of the elephant and coming up with a different idea on what the animal is. (And all are wrong of course.)
- the parallels with the subject of man's origins seems too obvious to delineate in detail. There are many different ideas of how the universe, our home world, and man himself came into being. We have materialism, Vitalism, pantheism, biblical creationism, theistic evolution, space colonies, etc. all as ideas on how man came to be living on earth in our day. The question then is this; ''why is it we have so many different ideas on the subject of origins?" (Why people seem to care so much is another question. The level of interest may not be as high as some people believe, as I read a report recently that only 4 percent of Follywood celebrities had any interest in the subject :=)

We have so many different ideas on origins because people are looking at different parts of the elephant, so to speak. People are informed in their attempts by their world views; they restrict their efforts to only a limited amount of the evidence available.... they only look in one direction..... they only access a limited set of possible answers. No one has the time or the inclination to examine the whole elephant... so each man does a little examination and then boldly comes out with his idea on what the mystery creature is. Indeed the situation is even more complicated; it seems no one is willing to let the creature be what it is, but wants instead to force their own interpretation onto it. We see this even within the Christian camp, where there are quite acrimonious disagreements over what the elephant is.

What I see so prevalent in the 'discussion' is that our six blind men don't really want to talk to each other. They don't want to be confused by reports from elsewhere.... by evidence they don't see... by evidence not under their direct touch... They don't speak.... why? because they don't trust each other? don't like each other? don't think they need each other? want to claim the prize (for being correct) for themselves? not share it? I don't know the answers to these questions. I'm just another blind man trying to do his best. Only if there is indeed a creator God is there any final answer to this riddle.

Notes;
1. elephants are big but the subject of Origins is bigger. (Okay, that was my little joke.) People in the evolutionist side of the debate (i.e. materialism) say that origins is just one more problem to solve, no different than any other. I don't think this is true. I believe the subject of origins is in a wholly different category. It can't be settled by observation or experiment... and I think the philosopher probably has a better chance of comprehending the solution than the scientist. We can debate the subject all we want but it seems clear we will kick the bucket not knowing. For this reason I would like to see more restraint shown (on all sides) on this issue; a little more humility.
2.A Jainist version of the story says that six blind men went to determine what the elephant was like.
'The blind man who touches a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the tail-toucher claims it's like a rope; the one who feels the trunk compares it to a tree branch; the man who felt the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the belly-toucher asserts it's like a wall; and the tusk feeler insists the elephant feels like a solid pipe.
A wise man explains to them;
All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said.
This resolves the conflict, and is used to illustrate the principle of living in harmony with people who have different belief systems, and that truth can be stated in different ways.' - from Storymall.com
3. In an abridged version of the parable rendered into verse by U.S. poet, John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887), six blind men went to see an elephant--each felt just a portion of the huge beast-trunk, tusks, side etc. and then, as Saxe concluded:
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong.
Though each was partly in the right,
They all were in the wrong.