Our World: CARDBOARD HEAD

CARDBOARD HEAD

Our philosophy teacher showed a short tale, in class, called "Cardboard Heard".

Although it may seems to be a little bit childish at first, it isn't.

This tale teachs so many important things in spite of being so short.

Because of that, I wanted to try to traduce it to you. So, here it is:

In a town called Anyone lived a citizen named Previous.

It was a normal city, like any other, where the people liked that everything were normal. It means that everything should be "in the measure", without big extravangances, or for less, or for more.

The citizen Previous was looked badly, because of his weird behaviour: he was assertive, he tried to be critical, but careful, he was innovative and creative, he dressed in an original way, not necessarily fashionable, he had a peculiar way of listening and talking to the others.

And the worst of all: he thought on their own.

This last characteristic makes him going through bad treatments.

All of these because he didn't accept any idea without trying to understand it before, he questioned the action's modes that seemed to be mechanical and without sense, he searched for alternatives to common, and he argued in a consistent but unusual way.

An authority of this city called Previous to tell him that he should not act in that eccentric way, because he could be antisocial. And he explained to him that, at best, he should be an applied specialist, a compulsive consumer and a passive citizen, like everyone else.

Previous left confused that meeting, but he accepted the advice and he went for a walk to a shopping center to practice his life as a compulsive consumer. He was surprised to find there a small and old clockmaking.

He came in and told the man who was behind the desk:

- Besides watches, do you also manage heads?

- The heads are like a clock -said the watchmaker-and to function well they need periodic reviews.

I need thirty days to find and fix the defect.

- But what will I do without a head for 30 days?

- Do not worry, I lend you this cardboard.

So, Previous went out with a new head of the store. And he was a success in city Anyone: he acted like everyone else and because of that, he did not bother anyone. His social life went so calmly that his mind fell asleep.

Previous forgot to return to the store after thirty days.

And so years and years went by ...

One day Previous went to the shopping center by chance, he saw the store and it seemed to be familiar to him.

He came in and asked:

-Sir, Did I leave something here and forget to pick it up?

The clockmaker replied:

- At last! I have waited for years ...

I have here his head. I have found no defect in it. Rather, it's such an original and unique model!

It's gorgeous!

- Really? Did I leave my head here?

But I feel so well with this one ...

I live pacefully, I have money, people do not reject me when I say what I think, because I don't longer think for myself. The truth is that I don't want my head back, I prefer this model of cardboard.