Several blind men encountered an elephant. When asked to  describe the elephant they replied: "An elephant is like a rope," said the man holding the tail. "No, no," said the man holding a leg. "An elephant is like a tree." One man grasped the trunk and said, "You're both wrong. An elephant is just like a hose."

And each man staked out a clear and confident position while understanding only a small part of the one big complicated elephant.