A Dilemma
Beate
Once upon a time there were three kinds of people on a certain planet.
there were those with one stomach, those with two and those with three
stomachs.
At first nobody realized that there were any differences between them.
they
lived in different areas, and adopted the food and habits with their
stomachic peculiarities.
But as they multiplied their differences became matter of contention.
Sometimes
the monostomachics prevailed, sometimes the bistomachics, sometimes
the
tristomachics.
Then with realism and through a desire for equity, they decided to
abolish all
differences based on stomachs. The result was that people, happily
enough,
eventually forgot that there were any of these anatomical differences.
They now had a unified culture, which was completely blind to this
detail.
Even the technological instruments devised by the people did not
register stomach differences.
And then ,a new element crept in.As food supplies increased in
quantity and decreased in quality (for unforseen reasons)the
monostomachics and bistomachics could not endure the new diet and
began to die out.
Because the ancient taboo against knowing anything about stomachs had
been established even in the genetic inheritance of the people, nobody
could solve
the problem, and only the tristomachics survive.
From the Magic Monastery by Idries Shah