‘AN ASS having heard some grasshoppers chirping, was highly enchanted; and, desiring to possess the same charms of melody, demanded what sort of food they lived on to give them such beautiful voices. They replied, “The dew.” The Ass resolved that he would live only upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger.’
1. The first three statements already provide a very accurate representation of human nature. It is a biologically evolved system governing human nature which signals the desire for an identifiable commodity possessing some type of value to you. That is, something that is able to be of service to you in attaining a worthwhile goal.
2. The Donkey demanded they tell him what food they live on which allows them to possess such beautiful voices.
The word demand seems to indicate that the question was posed with a sense of urgency. It indicates a clamorous and peremptory request. This would suggest that the grasshopper may have felt forced to rush an answer which, as it turns out, is a key point.
The donkey has identified an erroneous causal relationship between what the grasshopper eats and his beautiful voice. In reality it is often so that, in the frenzied and excited state of identifying something valuable (which is represented by the demanding nature of the question), we do not reason carefully enough. As the saying goes: ”Common sense goes out the door.”. Irrational connections and poor judgement are directly related to poor reasoning.
This mistake is not, however, fatal until the error is incorporated into his question. The Donkey has greatly limited the extent to which the Grasshopper is able to provide useful information. Ultimately the donkey wants to know how the grasshopper gets such a beautiful voice. By posing the question as he did, the scope of answers to his question is limited to include only those answers pertaining to diet. You could say “What food do you live on”acts as a limiter to the question “what gives you such beautiful voices.”
By doing this, even if the Donkey had posed the question in a calm manner, he likely would still have received poor information (at least relative to what he actually wanted to know).
3. The Donkey receives his answer: “the dew”.
It is important to understand that poor reasoning is not in itself disastrous. However, when poor reasoning is used to extract information out of the real world, and where that information will be employed in the implementation of some undertaking or activity in the real world, the results may be fatal.
In reality the Donkeys’ question represents the action taken to identify the most suitable path to attaining a commodity. This action is often based in our cognitive processes as we try to reason our way to the answer.
The answer to the Donkeys’ question represents the conclusion that we draw from our reasoning. Often the conclusion may be fundamentally and logically correct as it pertains to the reasoning employed, but when the form of the reasoning itself is flawed, the conclusion will be irrelevant.
4. The Donkey concludes that he will eat only due with the goal of obtaining a beautiful voice.
In reality this represents using irrelevant, incorrect or insufficient information in the process of formulating a strategy to achieve a specific outcome. Without sufficient research and relevant information you will fail in your pursuit. There is an entire component in most industries dedicated to market research. Without sufficient information about undertakings which are to be implemented, proper decisions cannot be made.
Information is the fuel of the decision vehicle.
5. The Donkey shortly succumbs to starvation and dies.
In reality numerous decisions are made everyday. When implementing a strategy, decisions will be made from day one. With irrelevant, incorrect or insufficient information, it will not take long for your misinformation to lead you into chaos.
Bad decisions have real world consequences.
6. The Donkey employed faulty reasoning, suffered a lack for critical examination of his information and conclusion, proceeded to utilize this poor information in the formulation of a strategy, and then implemented this strategy. Now he’s dead.
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