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The Parable of the Tiger Cage
Why failing to understand the fundamental nature of things can turn out badly
A man was at the zoo one day. He came across a cage containing a tiger. What a magnificent animal, he thought, I would very much like to have my photograph taken with it for my Instagram page. So he climbed the outside of the cage, ignoring the shouts of alarm from other zoo-goers. When he dropped into the cage the tiger bounded over and killed him. A little later the man arrived in heaven and asked St Peter “Why did the tiger kill me? All I wanted was a photograph?”. St Peter looked at him and shook his head sadly. “You, my friend, have failed to understand the fundamental nature of tigers. The poor creature was trapped in territory a fraction of its size in nature. You invaded that space. It’s natural response was to kill you. I’m afraid that you are too selfish and stupid to enter heaven.”. And with that a hole opened in the floor to a fiery pit….
It’s strange how often in life we put ourselves in situations which turn out badly because we fail to take into account the fundamental nature of the people we are dealing with. We convince ourselves that once people get to know us they will change their behaviour or beliefs. It’s why we lie on our dating profiles. It’s why we ignore the warning signs and work for bosses who turn out to be sociopaths (or worse). It’s why we start that…
