The Horse Might Talk
A prisoner sentenced to death by a tyrannical king gains a reprieve by promising to teach the king's horse to talk within a year. That night, a fellow prisoner asks what possessed him to make such an impossible bargain. The prisoner replies: "A lot can happen in a year. The horse might die. The king might die. I might die. Or the horse might talk!" The prisoner understands something profound about progress and possibility. He knows that his real enemy isn't the prison bars or the king—it's insufficient knowledge. And he knows that if progress is to be made, some of the opportunities and discoveries will be inconceivable in advance. He may not teach the horse to talk. But he might discover something else entirely. He might persuade the king to repeal the law. He might learn a convincing conjuring trick. He might escape. He might think of an achievable task that pleases the king even more. The list is infinite. Even if every possibility is unlikely, it takes only one of them to be realized for the whole problem to be solved. Progress cannot take place at all unless someone is open to, and prepares for, those inconceivable possibilities.