Consider the old story of the blind men and the elephant. A long time ago three very wise but blind men were out on a journey when they came across a sleeping elephant. Because they could not see the elephant, they did not know what was blocking their way so they set about to discover what they could about the obstacle. As it happened, each man put his hands on a different section of the elephant, exclaiming it in great detail and what they could about the obstacle. As it happened, each man put his hands on a different section of the elephant, examining it in great detail and with much thought. The first man, having felt the elephant's trunk, described a creature that was long, wormlike, and quite flexible. "No, no! You must be mistaken," said the second man who was seated on the back of the elephant,"This creature is wide, very round, and does not move very much." The man who was holding one of the elephant's tusks added his description of a small, hard, pointed creature. Each of these men was correct in his description of what he felt, but, in order to understand the elephant fully, they needed to combine their accumulated knowledge.
* The study of human behavior is similar. Many different approaches are necessary to understand the complex richness of human behavior.
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