Care to do a little mind game?

When he was old enough to start learning, Jacob’s parents told him this object above was a cube. There was no reason to question his parents, so this must be true. Most everyday the idea that this was a cube was reinforced so in Jacob’s mind, it was a cube. As he grew older he may have heard that this was not a cube. Jacob simply ignored such fanciful ideas because he knew this was a cube! Time passed and his parents began to talk about the magical properties of the cube and how if he believed in all these wonderful things, he would be rewarded greatly in life and afterlife. Once a week he attended a large building where everyone shared his belief that it was a cube. How could it be anything else?

Time passed and many people questioned his belief in the cube but he held fast to his beliefs, no amount of persuasion was going to alter what he had been taught to believe. Along with this was the guarantee that unquestioned belief in the cube would give him eternal life! That way he did not have to fear dying! This seemed like a no-brainier.

One day in class his teacher showed the class a picture of a cube and wrote the word sphere under it. He laughed quietly to himself thinking, this teacher does not even know what a cube is. The teacher noticed the look on his face and asked him what he was thinking. He quietly and respectfully said “you have made a mistake, that is a cube”. A little confused, the teacher repeated, I’m afraid you have made a mistake, it is a sphere. Class continued and nothing else was said about the incident.

When Jacob went home he told his parents of the incident with the teacher, they seemed mildly upset. Jacob did not know this but the following day his parents made an appointment with his teacher to discuss what happened in class. The following day the teacher called Jacob into the hallway and told him she was sorry for embarrassing him in class. Jacob responded, I was not embarrassed, but you are misinformed about the cube. the teacher said it was time to return to class and moved away.

There are many ways this story could end. Jacob would someday realize that this object was a sphere or he could spend the rest of his life thinking a sphere is a cube. He could carry that image to his grave. Regardless of what the outcome was, the damage done to Jacob was forever.