Once, a man was passing through a farm. He saw a few elephants and he suddenly stopped. He saw that the large creatures were tied with just a small rope on one of the front legs of each of the elephants. They were not tied by any chain, nor were they caged. He thought these elephants could break the small ropes anytime and was very worried. He saw a trainer near by and asked him why the animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. The trainer said, “When they were very young, we used the same rope to tie them and, at that age, it was enough to hold them. As they grew up, they got conditioned to believe that they could not break away. They now believe that the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.” The man was amazed. These animals could, at any time, break free from their bonds but because they believed they could not, they were stuck right where they were.
The False Belief
