Elaine Miller
Author's note: I have an unfortunate bent towards analogy in philosophy - this was written somewhere in my twenties, and is the first in the Analogies From Hell series.
Life is a Boat
Everyone starts as a rowboat. It is small, brightly colored, and at first it is pulled by your parent(s), using a colourful twist of yarn.
As you age, you want to explore something other than the beach and shallow parts. You pull in your yarn (because if you simply cut it free, you will have no way to moor yourself later, when you are tired . . . ) and you row a little way out.
As you learn, your boat becomes bigger, and some people get their outboard motors faster than others. Depending, these people might show off their speed, or they might hide the motor and row.
Your boat becomes bigger as you work on it and build it. Your boat also becomes better outfitted as you learn. You might gain an anchor, a shelter, flares, a radio, life preservers, a map, a compass, etc.
Once nearly everybody has their outboard motors, we may begin to observe how they handle their boats:
I see some people sitting in the front of their boats. The boats are small, and poorly equipped. The motor and controls are at the back, but these people do not seem aware of this. They call out to people who pass. "Where? How? Wait!" They float, but do not move.
Some people have learned to use the motor very well. They have learned all about the motor; how to make it bigger, faster, and more powerful, but their boats are still small and uncomfortable, without the optional equipment. They are proud of their speed and the waves they can make, though, and seem to know no different.
Here is someone with a well-equipped boat: big, powerful motor, extra fuel, supplies. She knows of a spot on the opposite shore - here it is marked on the map - and she is on her way. The compass and sextant will help her get there.
This person has stored the oars, covered the motor, and has rigged a sail. The boat is sleek, well organized, and quiet. Peace seems more important to this person than speed. She will be there soon enough.
Very many people have no map. Most have convinced another to start the motor for them, but their hands are not on the tiller and they have no control over the path the boat takes. Convinced that another person can make the boat obey their wishes, they attempt to throw lines to passers-by who have unwittingly come too close. Meanwhile their boats often crash into obstacles, and they begin to blame those who would not stop to tow them. They ignore well-meaning boaters who point and sign toward the motor - how could the answer be in their own boat?
This person's boat has a powerful motor and is richly equipped and adorned. What is she doing? Ah! She's not teaching them about the motor . . . . She is giving lost people a tow in return for a portion of their equipage and supplies. This way, the towed people become poorer and more convinced that if just the right person would come along and tow them, they would live happily ever after. On a tow line.
I see also a person who has a medium motor, and a reasonably equipped boat. She is not going anywhere. Why? She has allowed a group of lost people to attach to her stern, so many that her motor is fouling on the lines. She has got out her oars, though, and is rowing in response to the cries and exhortations of her helpless people. I'm sure she will start moving soon.
These people here have equipment, a motor, and written directions instead of a map. They spend much of their time going to a certain point and back according to the directions. It was good enough for their parents and their parents' parents. It is good enough for them.
Here is a person with a detailed map, incredible communications equipment, a powerful motor, a sail, a backup motor, supplies, a stereo, and a few life preservers hanging on the rail. The deck is untidy with comfortable furniture, a few conversations are going on here and there - much laughter and smiling... The boater is comfortable in a hammock, her hand firmly on the tiller of the motor, and the boat is idling casually from point to point on the beach, trading with similar people. "What a waste" people murmur. "With that motor she could go fast, fast, fast" "With this equipment she could acquire so many supplies that she could leave them to us in her will" and so on.
Some people jump off their boat. The abandoned shell floats for a while, but eventually sinks.
Some people don't repair their boat, or they break bits of it when they are angry. Eventually it won't work. Sometimes people sink it accidentally.
This person waits until someone is sleeping, then creeps aboard that other boat and steals supplies.
Oh, look! There's a boat in the shallows with a little rowboat attached by a bit of coloured yarn...
And another little rowboat - but it's attached to a tiny, unbuilt boat. How difficult it is going to be to build both at the same time.
Still another little rowboat - but the big boat is still going at full speed . . . I think the little boat will be swamped.
This person has been around so long and has built her boat so big, she can't see the smaller boaters she's swamping. Doesn't she know that with a boat this big, she should have radar? Or does she care?
Here are two people who have gotten along so well that simply mooring their boats near one another was not enough. One person has scuttled her boat - sunk it in deep water - and then jumped aboard the other's. I guess that's OK, I mean, now they can be together all the time . . . But what if the boat is too small for comfort? Or cannot float with two people on it? Or what if the boat's owner wants to be alone again? The first person has no boat to go back to . . . I don't think I want to watch any longer . . .
But here are two people who have solved that problem - they each have radios - they like to stay in contact. And when they want to tie up for the night, they try to find calm waters to drop anchor together. They have known each other for a long time - I can tell because they share supplies and work on each other's boats freely and casually. Politely, they still knock before boarding.
This person has outfitted for exploration and discovery. Microscopes, telescopes, deep radar, reference volumes, Bunsen burners and spectral chromatography apparatus, test tubes and centrifuges. Listen when this person speaks . . . she's been spending some time thinking.
There are so many more types of people, of boats. The sea is full of them, some coming, some going.
All these people have many things in common.
- Problems - sharks, rust, storms, lack of knowledge of repair, difficulty in finding well-drawn maps
- The Sea - tides, waves, currents, winds - they affect us all
- Joys - The sun sparkling off a wave, the breeze in your hair, a calm harbour when one wishes, and a glorious sunset. The list is endless
What does your boat look like? What makes it move? Where are you going? How is your map? More importantly - Do you love your boat and are you enjoying the trip?
