Long, long ago in another
part of our galaxy, there existed a planet consisting of a single
great continent surrounded by an ocean. The central continent
stretched for 5000 miles, and was mostly dry and dusty. The
continent was uninhabited by civilized beings, except for a single
small kingdom near the center of the continent, where a few thousand
people lived. This kingdom was known as Centralia.
The residents of Centralia
had never seen a large body of water. They had not seen any oceans,
rivers, or lakes, but only a few very small ponds, none larger than
about 10 meters. Life was hard in Centralia, where it almost never
rained, and where it was very hard to grow crops. But despite their
difficulties, the Centralians were able to develop some aspects of
culture, including literature and theater. They even had their own
body of scientists.
The scientists of
Centralia published “laws of science” based on the observations
they had made about nature, using only their limited experience. One
of these “laws of science” was known as the Law of Small
Accumulations. This was the law that there could only exist small
accumulations of water such as very small ponds, and that nature
abhorred any large bodies of water. The Centralians concluded that
their planet was round, and that the whole planet was as dry and
dusty as the land around Centralia. This conclusion was officially
promulgated as the Law of Global Uniformity.
The scientists of
Centralia began to get very pleased with their understanding of
nature, and tended to think of themselves as great knowledge lords
who were almost finished with the job of understanding the mysteries
of the world.
One day some adventurous
Centralians decided to go on a long journey of exploration, riding on
local animals that somewhat resembled camels, in that they could
store great amounts of water. The exploration party was led by a very
brave person named Delnox.
The exploration party of
Delnox traveled to the south for a year. For almost all of the
journey, the explorers encountered only dry, dusty land like the land
of Centralia. But then one day the explorers came upon the most
exciting thing they had ever seen.
It was an ocean.
Delnox could not believe
his eyes. Before him lay a seemingly limitless body of water. He had
never imagined that such a thing could exist. But there was the
evidence right in front of him.
After the explorers swam
in the ocean for pleasure, and took copious notes, Delnox commanded
the exploration party to return to Centralia. There was much
grumbling, as many wanted to stay in this wondrous region with
unlimited water. But Delnox insisted that the discovery be reported
to Centralia without delay.
After a year of additional
traveling, the exploration party finally returned to Centralia.
Delnox called together the Academy of Science, and told the
astonishing story of what had happened. But the scientists refused
to believe his story.
“You're a liar,” said
one scientist. “Your story is unbelievable rubbish, inconsistent
with the teachings of our great Academy. There could never exist
such a thing as this 'ocean' you describe – it would violate the
Law of Small Accumulations, that water can only exist in small
amounts. Such a law is one of the most fundamental findings of our
science. Not to mention that your story violates the Law of
Global Uniformity.”
“You're a fraud,” said
another scientist. “You've created this crazy story merely to gain
riches or influence.”
“I don't think they're
liars or frauds,” said another scientist. “I have a different
theory to explain their story. I think they hallucinated. After a
long journey through dry land, their minds were so eager for water
that their minds probably fooled them into hallucinating this 'ocean'
that they describe. Of course, it goes without saying that no such
'ocean' could really exist.”
The story of Delnox and
his fellow explorers was officially declared by the Academy of
Science to be a lie, a fraud, or a hallucination. But a minority of
Centralians accepted the story as the truth.
Over the next 150 years,
every few years another exploration party would set out to the south
in search of the fabled ocean first reported by Delnox. Some of these
exploration parties never returned. But about once or twice a decade, one of
the exploration parties would return after about 2 years of
traveling. The exploration parties would usually tell a tale similar
to that told by Delnox – that a great ocean had been discovered
after traveling thousands of miles to the south.
Each of the returning
exploration parties would always be treated the same way by the
Academy of Science. The Academy ruled that all of the reports were
merely lies, frauds, or reports of hallucinations. The Academy ruled
that no legitimate scientist could believe in the “ocean
superstition,” as they called it. The Academy continued to teach
that the entire planet was as dry and dusty as the kingdom of
Centralia.
Eventually explorers from
Centralia found other huge bodies of water that were closer to
Centralia. Travelers to the the southwest discovered three seas
smaller than the great ocean that Delnox had found. Other travelers
discovered another sea to the north. But whenever these travelers
returned to Centralia, their reports were belittled and disregarded
by the experts at the Academy of Science. The travelers were told
they were liars, frauds, or people suffering from hallucinations.
Their reports were dismissed as nonsense, even though many different
travelers to those seas made reports that were all consistent with
each other.
Meanwhile technology began
to improve in Centralia. Eventually an inventor created the first
camera. An explorer named Zulsen
came up with the idea of using the new invention to prove the reality
of the ocean to the south.
“We will take photos of
the ocean to the south,” said Zulsen. “That will be proof that no
one can deny.”
Zulsen led an exploration
party that traveled for a year. After a year, they reached the great
ocean to the south, and took many photographs of it. Then the
exploration party started traveling back to Centralia. After another
year the party returned to Centralia, and showed the photographic
evidence to the Academy of Science.
“You can no longer deny
the ocean's existence,” said Zulsen. “We have given you the
photographic proof.”
“This is fraud,” said
one scientist. “You must have used some special technique to fake
these photos. You can never convince me of your ocean superstition.”
“I have another idea,”
said another scientist. “These are not photos of an ocean, but
merely photos of some low-hanging clouds. My guess is that in this
region of the planet, the clouds hang a lot lower than in our
region.”
The Academy of Science
officially ruled that the photos of the ocean were either fakes or
merely photos of low-hanging clouds that had been misidentified as
the ocean. The testimony of the explorers that they had swum in the
ocean was dismissed as either lies or hallucinations.
Zulsen sadly realized how permanently closed were the minds of most of the scientists. He began
organizing a group that would travel to the great ocean to the south,
for the purpose of permanently settling the land near there. After
organizing the team of pioneers, he said his final goodbyes to the
residents of Centralia.
This story is allegorical. Read this post for a discussion of what has been symbolized here.
This story is allegorical. Read this post for a discussion of what has been symbolized here.