Cartown

There’s a thriving place called Cartown.

The people of Cartown know everything about cars. For them, a bicycle is just a car without an engine. A bus is a large car with more wheels and seats.

Whenever they need to go anywhere, no one needs to ask how. The answer to the people of Cartown is clear.

One day, they’re handed an airplane. They look at it and say, “Hmm, that’s a funny looking car.” But it has six wheels – they’ve seen that before. It has seats and windows. Nothing new.

They take the airplane and they drive it down the highway. Terrible experience.

So they study the wings. “These things create drag,” one engineer says, “which makes it slower.”

“And wider,” another chimes in. “You can’t drive it through town.”

So they cut off the wings.

Peter, a young boy, says: “No, you’re doing it wrong. It can fly!”

They ignore the boy. They make further improvements to the airplane. They lower it so they can see the road better. They remove the propeller for safety. They reinforce the frame to make it sturdier.

Peter speaks up again: “No, you’re doing it wrong!” They ignore him.

After more changes, the airplane isn’t much of an airplane anymore. They look at it and say: “Well, it’s a better car now. But it’s not faster than my Porsche. It’s not more comfortable than my camper van. It’s not more efficient than my bus.”

Interesting, but ultimately useless.

Peter tells them: “It’s because you’ve been doing it wrong!”

They say to him: “OK, show us how to do it right.”

So the boy drives the airplane up the mountain. He pushes it off the cliff and turns on the engine. It sputters and roars to life. But there are no propellers and no wings.

The plane crashes.

The people of Cartown nod and say: “See? Terrible car.”