Indecidability, or Closing Off Meaning

 

Indecidability, or Closing Off Meaning

1. The Story

In a village, there lived a poor old man. His only valuable possession was his legendary white horse. The king had offered to buy the horse many times, but the old man always refused:

"This horse is my friend. Does one sell a friend?"

One morning, the villagers woke up to find the horse missing. They immediately confronted the old man:

"Didn't we tell you? They would steal the horse. If you had sold it, you would be rich and at peace now."

The old man, however, replied calmly:

"Don't rush to make a judgment. The only truth is this: The horse is gone. We don't know yet if this is a misfortune or a blessing."

The villagers scoffed at his words. But days later, the horse returned with twelve wild horses. The villagers were astonished:

"You were right after all! This is a great stroke of luck."

The old man gave the same reply:

"Yes, the horse has returned. But we still don't know if this is good or bad."

Not long after, the old man’s only son broke his leg while trying to tame the horses. This time, the villagers said:

"See? These horses brought disaster."

The old man remained calm again:

"The truth is this: My son broke his leg. But we don't know yet what the outcome of this will be."

A few months later, the enemy invaded the country, and all the young men in the village were conscripted into the army—except for the old man's crippled son. The villagers now said:

"You were right. Your son’s injury was actually a great stroke of luck."

The old man repeated his words for the last time:

"You continue to make early judgments. Only God knows what is good and what is evil."

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2. Analysis

This story reminds us of a profound truth: Human beings see life in fragments but don't know how those fragments will connect to the whole. To grasp the outcome of an event, we need time. Yet, we often rush to declare something "good" or "bad."

However, a hasty decision is a sign of a mind at a standstill. The moment a person makes a judgment, they stop thinking and close off possibilities. Yet, life is a continuous journey; one door closes, and another opens. A loss can later turn into a gain; a gain can be the beginning of a great loss.

In short, making an early judgment is closing off the meaning of life.

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3. The Quranic Dimension

The Quran summarizes the limited human perspective with the following verse:

"But it may be that you dislike something when it is good for you, and it may be that you love something when it is evil for you. God knows, and you do not know."

(Al-Baqarah, 2/216)