Dear Richard,
When we learn a new thing, it is very important to spend enough time and effort to understand it. As an able human being, we can use our gifted abilities to see, hear, touch, smell and even taste it. We can observe and make records of it. We can also read books to find out how other people understand it. We can apply our intelligence to help deduce and conclude findings.
Once upon a time, there were five blind people. They went to a zoo to pay their first visit to the elephant there. They wanted to know how an elephant was like. One person touched the elephant leg and said that it looked like a tree. Another person touched the elephant nose and said that it looked like a hose. The third person touched the elephant tail and said that it looked like a broom. The fourth person touched the elephant ear and said that it looked like a flag. The last person touched the elephant teeth and said that it looked like an ice-cream cone. The five blind people kept arguing and insisted on what they had found.
Richard, it is dumb, isn't it? For sure, you know what an elephant is like because you can see it. However, when you, yourself, come across new things, do you always open your eyes to see enough, use your ears to hear enough, have your hands to touch enough, get your nose to smell enough, let your mouth to taste enough and drive your mind to think enough? If you have not spent enough effort to explore before making a conclusion, you are no better than one of the blind people in the above story.
With love, Dad