The Blind Men and the Internet.
A group of blind men hears that a trans-dimensional thing made of magnetic energy and enveloped in a cushion of silence has come to town. “We must go learn what this thing is,” they agree. Arriving at its location, all four approach the thing walking shoulder to shoulder. They stop when they can no longer hear their footsteps.
The first blind man, hearing only the sound of his own breath, stretches out one arm to where his hand meets the thing’s amorphous outline. From inside, he senses a rhythmic vibration which feels to him to be a heartbeat.
“The thing is alive,” he declares. “And I believe it is here to help us.” No one can hear him.
The second blind man reaches out with both hands, but his hands feel nothing. Instead, he feels a sharp pang from his face. He blinks and a pair of scales fall from his eyes to the ground. He stands, amazed, before a technicolor display that stretches out into infinity.
“The thing is a miracle!” he exclaims, though no one can hear him either.
Distrustful of the thing, the third blind man does not extend his hand. “What are you?” he asks instead.
“What do you want me to be?” the thing replies.
“That is no kind of answer,” the third blind man says, firmly.
There is a pause. “You are very wise,” says the thing after a short moment. “For you, I will share all of my secrets.”
The third blind man is surprised, but quite pleased with himself. Just then, a swirling tunnel of screams opens up and devours him.
The fourth blind man feels a vague unease about the thing humming before him. “I do not think I want anything to do with you,” he says finally.
“That is your choice,” the thing says from a hundred mouths in a hundred voices.
Emerging from the cocoon of silence, he calls out to his friends, but no one replies. He continues calling out for some time, before realizing that they are gone. He is disturbed, but manages to quickly shake off the feeling.
The others, he concludes, must have deserved whatever happened to them.
