Both in class and in the novel "Sophie's World", we discussed a metaphor that effectively split up the entire race into three groups. Our unknown teacher in the novel compares the entire world to fleas in the fur of an animal.
These three aforementioned groups are:
1. Those nestled deep in the fur of the animal, too comfortable to ask THE BIG QUESTIONS (a fair percentage of the population).
2. Those on the outskirts of the fur, still excited about the world that they are learning (children).
3. Those who have escaped, wanting answers to THE BIG QUESTIONS (philosophers).
I like this metaphor a lot. I like how we're able to visualize a detailed (albeit strange) scenario that adequately splits up the entire human race. In some ways, it almost reminds me of the class division that is, and has been, a major theme in film and literature (think H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine"). Obviously, Wells' novel is a much more extreme division of class then what is illustrated by our metaphor, but hopefully you get the idea.
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