A blind man was in the company of others. When his companions saw something funny, they laughed. The blind man laughed, too.
When they asked him why he was laughing, the blind man replied,
“Since you laugh, there must be something worth laughing at. Can you be cheating me there?”
Allegorical Meaning
Uncritical Conformity & Social Mimicry
The blind man’s reflexive laughter — despite seeing nothing — satirizes those who blindly imitate others to fit in. His logic (“Surely you wouldn’t deceive me!”) reveals a naive trust in collective behavior, echoing how people often adopt opinions/actions without independent thought.
The Illusion of Consensus
By assuming the group’s laughter must be justified, the blind man conflates popularity with validity. This critiques societies where “majority approval” is mistaken for truth, enabling herd mentality or even manipulation (e.g., propaganda, trends).
Performative Participation
His forced laughter mirrors modern “social performativity” — people feign engagement to avoid exclusion. The irony? His visible blindness contrasts with the crowd’s invisible intellectual blindness, as both act without genuine understanding.
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