by Chris Alexion, Copyright February 07, 2006, all rights reserved. 286 views
"…There was this other guy, impossible to please. He was critical of everything his friends did. Criticized their trucks, their houses, their shotguns (they were duck hunters), and their hunting techniques. One day, to the joy of his friends, one of them bought a dog who knew how to walk on water. "This'll get him," was the general consensus. The next Saturday, they all went duck hunting together, and spent their usual time in the duck blind listening to their critical friend talk down about the coffee, the sandwiches they had, the weather, not to mention everything else. But finally some ducks flew over, and one of the men got a good shot, and a duck fell into the water. With that, the magic dog ran out across the surface of the water, deftly picked up the duck, and ran back to the blind. To the astonishment of everyone there, the critical man said nothing. Absolutely nothing. After half an hour, some more ducks flew over and the same thing happened. Still the man said nothing. Finally, one of the others, unable to contain himself, asked, "So, did you notice anything about the dog?" "Well," the man replied, "I didn't want to say anything because I don't like being critical. But it looks to me like your stupid dog can't swim."
"This kind of thing is the result of an interpretive grid, a paradigm. That grid is used to sort the information, and arrange the facts. It is not the case that facts simply arrange or interpret themselves. All purported facts, documents, truths, etc. are arranged into a narrative by everyone who seeks to understand them. That narrative will do justice to the facts or it will not, but the narrative is not insignificant. Moreover, the narrative is always there. That narrative is what makes up the interpretive grid."
- Doug Wilson, Blog and Mablog
1 • Chris Yokel • February 07, 2006 • 11:17 PM
That's an effective and humorous way to put the point. Kudos to Wilson.
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