You are wrong about what is good for you

Here's a great story that challenges our assumptions about good and bad

I’ve been a big fan of the philosopher Alan Watts for much of my life. His ability to take on the hardest subjects with brevity and humor has always been an inspiration for me as a writer and teacher.

The story below embodies much of his work in that it challenges our deepest assumptions about life in a way that seems obvious at first, but the more you think about it the more profound it becomes. His final line, “the consequence of good fortune”, is something I now think about all the time.

I don’t know the first time I heard the story below, but Watts’ version of it is the shortest and the best. It’s a core idea for me in my own rules for life and wanted to share it with you.

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"Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.”

The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.”

The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.”

The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”

The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity, and it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad — because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune." -Alan Watts