Unlearning 2020: Part 2 – The Allegory of the Lone Lighthouse Keeper

In Part 1 we talked about The Mystery of the Invisible Boston Marathon Bombing.

Today we’ll discuss …

The Allegory of the Lone Lighthouse Keeper

In 1891 a young man was born in Iceland.  The son of a lighthouse keeper.  His father taught him his trade from an early age.   In 1913 the young man’s parents died in a tragic boating accident.

The young man then took over the management of the lighthouse and the small farm on its grounds.  He had everything needed to live there and never ventured off the small and remote plot of land.  Managing the farm and the lighthouse occupied his days and he never had the time or energy at the end of each day to venture forth.

In 1965 he took ill and walked off the land for the first time to seek help.  He had to walk 3 miles before he ran into anyone.

To his surprise he saw a strange wheeled contraption with people inside rolling down the road.

He waved to them and asked for directions to the nearest hospital.  They offered to take him there in the strange contraption (they called it an ”automobile”) and he obliged.

The doctors diagnosed him with terminal cancer.  On his deathbed he learned of a great many things of which he was never aware in his remote solitary life.

An event called “The Great Depression” … Two worlds wars …  Even stranger inventions than the automobile …

What is the significance to us in 2020?

And how does it fit into the larger point?

Type your guess in the comment box below.