Of Monks and Slingshots...

Hmm..I was about to name this entry something about Benedictine monks, then I thought about Benedictine Dom. And then I remembered that I've got a friend (former colleague, actually) whose name is Dominic (short form: Dom). And he's got a twin brother whose name is...... did you guess Benedict? So there you have it: Benedictine Dom. OK sorry, not funny to be making fun of people's names. Ben and/or Dom, if you're reading this, my apologies. Now back to the real topic....

If you've read the very first entry in this blog, you would have read something about the Benedictine monks. Just to save you the trouble of turning to that entry, I was explaining about how this blog got its name, and part of that story was how the abbotts of the Benedictine era would, when there was a decision to be made, ask the opinions of each of the monks, beginning with the youngest.

When I just read that entry again, I realised the wisdom in doing that. You see, when you ask the youngest first, you benefit from the fresh, new perspective that he brings because he may look at an old situation from a new angle or bring fresh insight into something. However, as you go further down the line and seek the opinion of progressively older people, each one (I assume) would have heard the opinions of those who have spoken before, and would inject their own experience and opinions into their view. The resultant final solution would therefore be one that is on the one hand novel, shedding new light on the situation, yet on the other is built upon using the wisdom and experience of elders to give rise to a solution to which everybody has contributed. Cool...just some food for thought. Yum yum....*slurp*