In the beginning there was nothing but shallow water. Then a
great crocodile appeared and began thrashing his tail. He made the
water deeper in some places. In other places he heaped up enough mud
to form the land, which was
still very damp and muddy.
The first men had nothing to eat but frogs, which tasted like
mud, except crunchier. They build their dwellings out of what they
had: mud. When it dried it had some strength (in compression). A hut
had to be built with care, or else it would crumble.
Gradually more and more things happened. The crocodile was
long gone, and new materials appeared, plexiglass and wood and steel.
And the men said to each other: "It is not appropriate that our
dwellings be made of mud when there better things to make them of. We
will build new hovels. Naturally, the foundations and loadbearing
walls thereof shall be of mud, but we shall hide the mud with painted
wood and polished steel, even on the
inside, which we shall reveal with plexiglass."
This made a huge difference to the appearance of the dwellings
of men. Now they were arrayed like the lilies of the field. But they
were still made of mud where it counted. And when the men tried to
build an apartment complex or an office tower, it always collapsed.

Key

Dwelling Software system (from OS on up)
Mud C

A Parable

srenner@mail.ru — 2000-05-08 18:50:18

iepos@tunes.org — 2000-05-08 19:07:06