Watch Your Step
dialog between achilles and the tortoise
Note: This dialog was inspired by the format of the "Achilles and the Tortoise" dialogs of Douglas Hofstadter's book Gödel, Escher, Bach.
Such as it is usual, the tortoise is strolling through the racetrack, observing carefully the details of his surroundings. Suddenly, something calls his attention: some meters away, sitting on the ground, is Achilles.
TORTOISE: My dear friend, something big must have happened to you, for you are not running. What is the cause of this strange behavior of yours if I may know?
ACHILLES: Oh Tortoise you are right, something unprecedented just happened. I was, as I always am, running, when a dark question crossed my mind: why is it that we run?
On hearing this, the tortoise smiles and starts to walk again; Achilles is astounded.
ACHILLES: How can it be, my friend, that you seem not troubled at all by this deep thought?
TORTOISE: No, Achilles, you do not understand… That question is one of my biggest concerns and it has been so for a very long time. This is the reason why I walk, and walk slowly.
ACHILLES: If you have always wondered about these matters, why is it that you never shared it with me? I have been running my whole life without knowing that I did not know the reason why I did it.
TORTOISE: I apologize for my inconsideration, but you run too fast to hear me mumble and I was too concentrated as to shout.
ACHILLES: Concentrated in what?
TORTOISE: In being enlightened, of course.
ACHILLES: Oh I see! I know everything about enlightenment…
Achilles produces from his pocket a purple book with the words “The Path to Enlightenment” inscribed on the cover. He opens it and starts to read out loud.
ACHILLES: “Here is the key to enlightenment: look deep in your harmonic self and follow the precepts of the zodiac…”
TORTOISE: Excuse me, friend, but that is not enlightenment: that is bullshit!
ACHILLES: Oh so you meant enlightened as in the Enlightenment of revolutionary humanism, the time of wigged men.
TORTOISE: I fear, Achilles, that you are still gravely mistaken.
ACHILLES: So then, tell me please: what is enlightenment?
TORTOISE: Enlightenment is, of course, watching your step. And by that I mean knowing where you step and why you do it.
ACHILLES: So I guess this is intimately related to your slow walking.
TORTOISE: This time you are right, that is indeed how it is.
ACHILLES: If I understood well, then, you walk slowly to watch your step and be enlightened. I still don’t see, however, how this relates to the question I shared with you and that is burning me from the inside.
TORTOISE: I shall proceed to explain: the nature of your query is undeniably linked to the one about the purpose of the racetrack. So…
ACHILLES: I beg your pardon. Which is this track you are talking about?
The tortoise raises an eyebrow.
TORTOISE: The one on which we are standing now, the same you have been running on since I have memory.
Brusquely, the hero jumps from his position and stands still looking at the ground with amazement.
ACHILLES: In all the years I have been running, I have never seen this track.
TORTOISE: If that is so, you will be shocked to know that, since I started enlightening myself and walking slowly, I have discovered that there are entire worlds located ahead, behind and to our sides –that is, outside the track.
ACHILLES: You will have to excuse me, but I cannot believe what you are saying…
TORTOISE: You don’t have to, just raise your head and see it for yourself!
Achilles does as his friend says and the sight of the green hills and trees surrounding them is so overwhelming that he is forced to sit again
ACHILLES: This, I must say, is too much for me to withstand. I had always thought the world reduced to my feet and the patch of earth in which I stood.
TORTOISE: Didn’t you ever think you were running toward something? That this has an end?
ACHILLES: That idea had certainly never occurred to me. And if things are like you say, what will happen once we get to the finish line?
TORTOISE: We will cease to exist, clearly, for our aim would be accomplished and Zeno won’t need us anymore.
ACHILLES: Oh Zeus! This is like awakening from a nice dream and realizing reality is so awfully complex and tough. I have no courage to face this: I will just keep running. That is, for sure, much easier and more confortable than being enlightened.
TORTOISE: It is indeed, my friend, as you say. But, should you keep running, you would miss the beauty of the flowers, the freshness of the grass and the singing of the birds. Isn’t all that good enough to compensate for the bitterness of knowing we don’t know?
ACHILLES: Now that you mention it, running on the grass would be extremely satisfactory, if it were possible to do such unimaginable thing…
TORTOISE: My dear Achilles, worry not! The only thing you need to get off the track is your decision to do so.
ACHILLES: But what if I decide badly and go the wrong way? Tell me, please friend, which is the right path to enlightenment.
TORTOISE: I am sorry Achilles, but you are adult now and you have to take responsibility. But I assure you, nonetheless, that, regardless of where you go, you will be enlightened if you watch your step and think about the things around you.
ACHILLES: So observing carefully is enough to be enlightened?
TORTOISE: Not really, my friend. You will also need to recognize the things that need to be fixed and, once you do it, fix them too. Also, it is necessary that you be ready to change your path at any moment…
ACHILLES: Change again?!
TORTOISE: Indeed, change all the time and create new ways. There are no real tracks…
ACHILLES: If there are no real tracks, how do you know that the being enlightened is the right choice?
TORTOISE: Oh friend, you surprise me gratefully: that is really an enlightened question! And the answer is that you cannot know. But watching your step is being rational and once we are rational we never choose to live dumbly again, even though that could bring easy happiness. Not thinking, as you said, is like being asleep and enlightenment means waking up to live conscious of the present.
ACHILLES: I see your point, Tortoise. And will be enlightened help me avoid my death?
TORTOISE: No, Achilles, we will die anyway. But living will have been worth it!
ACHILLES: How can it be worth it if we still don’t know why we are running and where we are going?
TORTOISE: But we do know we do not know! And, thus, we can try to make sense of the world around us and of ourselves as well.
Achilles closes his eyes and thinks for a moment. After a while, he speaks again.
ACHILLES: Why do I have to believe everything you say?
TORTOISE: You don’t have to; you are on your own. But I see you are growing up: you are watching your step now.
In that moment, they see two runners heading towards them.
ACHILLES: It seems we have company, Tortoise. We must enlighten them!
TORTOISE: Without doubt, trying that would be pointless –and, if it wasn’t, we would have to enlighten everyone in the world, an impossible task to accomplish.
ACHILLES: Are you sure we cannot free them from the track? I feel now morally obliged to enlighten people…
But suddenly, the runners stop and stand still scratching their heads.
TORTOISE: They stopped! That is awkward indeed.
ACHILLES: I think they have seen us: enlightenment is contagious!
TORTOISE: This, I must say, comes as a big surprise to me: I thought affecting others was not possible. See what I mean! There is always something new; always doubt, my friend, even of your deepest convictions.
After some minutes of thinking in silence and looking around them, the tortoise continues.
TORTOISE: So, Achilles, have you decided which way to go now?
ACHILLES: Actually, I have; do you see that mountain over there? Climbing it would give us an excellent view of everything around. Perhaps that would help us understand better where we are and where we are going.
TORTOISE: Excellent choice, my friend. After you!
And so Achilles steps on the grass, heading to climb the first of many mountains.
Maximiliano Isi
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