My Black Swans Discoveries
I spotted my first black swan at Lake Taupo in New Zealand, in the new world a few years ago. The discovery for me was indeed symbolic of the discovery of the westward passage to India. Few except one of the most successful marketers in the world, Columbus and equally gullible but sufficiently fortunate Spain’s Catholic monarchs had believed in the westward passage. Yet, the world never was the same again once the discovery of another land mass, that was not India was made.
No sooner than the time it took for me to reconcile with the sight of the black swan in the new world, I now sighted this bird gliding in the lake in the Retiro Park in Madrid, Spain. This is the very heartland of the monarchs who had sponsored the voyage buying into the theory of the westward passage to India.
In my opinion, no other bird or animal for that matter has created more disruption in humanity’s progress than the black swan.
Scientists and laymen alike, have attempted to build coherent knowledge of this world with diligence and patience. They built ivory towers grounded on theories with their beliefs and available evidence. But alas, the bird’s single sighting brought down those ivory towers. They were forced to rethink nature and search for new theories with the hope that the new theory will become universal enough to be the mother of all existing theories. Thus go the string theory and the multi-universes.
Unfortunately, if anything, this quest has rapidly led us to the inherent uncertainty of the natural world. Scientists, let alone commoners alike fail to comprehend the modern theories with limited human intelligence and rational thought let alone prove them with evidence. That is of course true before another sighting of the bird is spotted along in the future.
One might then hope that the bird would be more abundant enough to be sighted more frequently. Thus, we can stop building those ivory towers that tumble down to the ground at the glimpse of the bird. Instead, we could build knowledge structures using the latest cascading waterfall project management methodology recommended by our omnipotent management consultants. The black swans can then thrive in the waterfalls and multiply and create a virtuous sustainable world where men don’t irrevocably harm nature with their limited human intelligence and knowledge of nature.
But unfortunately, the black swan’s powers don’t just come solely from its existence, but they come from its rare existence. The growth of knowledge of the world therefore will continue to remain arduous and multi-directional and that is in its nature.
