It was a rather unremarkable event; I had gone into the men's room at a topless bar to relieve myself. When I went to the sink to wash my hands I overheard the bathroom valet talking to a customer.
The last place in the world where you would expect to learn anything important intellectually is in a bathroom at a topless bar - but as has been pointed out - you find things in the last place that you look for them. The key to finding understanding is to always be open to the possibility of learning something new and important - no matter what the circumstances.
The valet was a small black man of indeterminate age - somewhere between 70 and 90. He was cheerfully offering advice to anyone who would listen to him. In the arrogance of my youth I would have ignored him as well meaning - but feeble minded; a dottering human to be ignored while I sought great truth else where. However, experience had taught me humility; if a person has any honesty life will beat arrogance out of them - an arrogant old man is a dishonest old man.
I went over to him and said; "When I was young I tried to find truth in science - but I have learned that not all truth is there - I have learned that I need to listen to people like you." His face lit up and he said "That's right - you do!" He looked at me quizzically and skeptically. His expression said "Is this man a fool? Will he really listen?"
So I asked him a question: "If there was one thing you could tell the white man that would improve relations between the races what would it be?" He squinted his eyes closed and drew in air through is teeth - his face distorted in the shape of someone in deep thought. Then he relaxed, and started speaking.
What he did was start telling me a completely pointless story from his youth - during World War II. It was a typically senile story - the kind no one ever listens to; it was full of hardship and errors he had made.
I thought to myself "Oh, he's lost focus." I would have politely walked away but his eyes were intently on me - they were searching my eyes for understanding. So I kept listening - trying to understand what he was saying. But I could find no point in anything he said. He finished his first rambling story and started in on another - equally as meaningless.
I stepped on my own impatience hard and listened to him - trying to find some meaning in what he was saying - but nothing came. He finished his second completely pointless story and started a third. His eyes never left mine - he kept looking to see if I understood.
About ten minutes had passed - what he was saying still made no sense to me. I thought about everything he had said - and suddenly I understood! He was painting a picture with his words of what it was like to be a black man! "Oh!" I said and my eyes lit up with understanding.
When he saw that I understood he told me one final story - this one was not rambling and disconnected. He said that he had been walking on the sidewalk one day when a white man had shoved him off the sidewalk and said "Get out of the way nigger." He said it was the only time in his life that he had ever hit anyone, and I had no questions as to why he did it.
He then concluded "If there was one thing I could tell the white man it would be this: A black man lives a hard life - he deserves respect for living that life."
I looked at him with admiration and appreciation. I said: "Thank you, Sir. You have taught me a great deal."
There was no arguing with his conclusion - he had shown me his evidence first; his conclusion was inescapable and correct. I could see at the heart of feeble mindedness an element of pure shining genius, and I could see at the heart of intelligence an element of feeble minded weakness.
We in the intelligent world tend to state our conclusions early in a discussion - then prop them up with evidence as others attack and question them. This is horribly inefficient; we spend most of our time intellectually running around trying to patch up a tottering intellectual vessel full of leaks. We pour the water in before we have everything leak proof.
We are IDIOTS for doing this; it greatly restricts the speed with which we can transfer information. The word is 'conclusion'; it ought to be the last thing we state - not among the first. Efficiency demands that it be done this way. Despite the fact that I possessed far more intellectual strength than the bathroom valet did, I was completely unable to argue with his conclusion; he was right - and I could only agree. I had truly learned something of great importance. The thread of Techno-Taoism began to firm up in my mind; I had begun to understand.