Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip.
After a good meal and a bottle of wine they bunked down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”
Watson replied, “I see millions upon millions of stars.”
“So what does that tell you?” asked Sherlock.
Watson pondered for a minute. “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?”
Holmes was silent for a minute and then spoke. “It tells me someone has stolen our tent!”
I like to tell this story in retreats and courses when we’re talking about the differing perceptions people bring to a conflict. And of how easy it is to miss the forest for the trees when we’re stuck in conflict or helping others navigate it.
I first heard the story from Ray Anderson, founder of Interface, the people who created environmentally sensitive Flor before it was fashionable to be green. If you know the original source, I’d appreciate learning it.
Conflict Zen by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at ConflictZen.com.
That joke is commonly called “The Tent Joke” among Sherlockians. It’s gained a rather infamous standing, as it’s been told several times too often. I really like how you thought of a different way to look at it.
As for the origin, according to http://www.sherlockian.net/about/faq.html Direct Quote: “The earliest known version of the tent joke for some reason refers to “Matthew Watson” — an unknown twin of John H., perhaps? That version was posted to the Hounds of the Internet July 2, 1998.”
I saw Sherlock Holmes and couldn’t resist checking it out. This is a great story . It fits perceptions and it may be a subtle difference, but Watson shows it is also about perspectives.
Love it.
By the way, can I borrow it for my blog at some point?
Hi, Mike – You’re right, it has some interesting fodder for thinking about perspectives, too. It’s a sign of a great story when it offers many angles from which to understand it. Feel free to share on your blog as you will, since I’m not the original source of it — and I’d appreciate the link.
Crystal — “Sherlockians”??? A new one for me.
I read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories as a teen, so I enjoyed the joke.
I have always been amazed at how humans find and entrench themselves in certain perspectives, especially culturally different ones.
Lori, your comment transported me back to my teen years when I, too, read a lot of Sherlock Holmes stuff, and all of Agatha Christie. Great memories — thanks for that!