A PARABLE

Imagine one day encountering a civilization foreign to ours, with advanced technology and a seemingly accurate grasp of nature. Its citizens engage in public discourse, debating over the way their society should run and what policies should be enacted. They have a good understanding of their own bodies and their own psychologies, advanced enough for them to know their own strengths and many of their own blind spots and weaknesses. They are careful not to waste or spoil their natural resources, and live in a kind of harmony with their environment. They are, in almost every respect, what we might call an “enlightened” citizenry, in the sense that they try to behave reasonably and they try to sort out what they should believe in intelligent and impartial ways, all against a common backdrop of mutual concern for one another and goodwill.

But one feature of this civilization is especially striking. In the centre of their major city is a small cave, which is widely regarded by the citizens as sacred. The city's major buildings form a ring around it, and its principal streets lead to it from the four compass points.