◎ 老虎屁股摸不得
中文有句俗语：老虎屁股摸不得。著名画家黄永玉老先生专门作了一幅漫画（见下图），反问：老虎哪里摸得？有美国朋友问我：“这幅画什么意思？”我想了半天，告诉他：“这是在讽刺屁股至上，歧视其它身体部位。”
这固然是开政治正确的玩笑，但还是有点认识论的含义。文学上讲，老虎屁股其实是以点带面，代表老虎全身。老虎是一个有机的活体，各个部分是无法割裂的。所以，黄永玉的问题自带顽皮的讽刺效果。有趣的是，真理也是有机的体系，具有活的灵魂。而我们的逻辑分析常常割裂它，把局部现象或者碎片化的知识当成真理。
我们只所以把现象、数据、事实当成真理，是因为我们不认识真理，我们永远只是在探求真理的路上。我们能否明白真理，关键在于真理怎样向我们启示它自己。真理是有机的整合体，不是零碎的事实，也不是数据表格，而是一个个不断翻新的故事。所以，科学理论总是历史地发展，而且以科学革命的形式重整、跃进。人作为认知的主体，不是故事的主讲者，而更多地是故事的一部分。
◎ Don’t touch the tiger’s butt
There is a Chinese proverb: Don’t touch the tiger’s butt. The famous artist Huang Yong-Yu made a funny cartoon (see below), asking the question: Where else can you touch a tiger? An American friend asked me: “What does this painting mean?” I thought for quite a while and told him: “This is a satire on "the butt supremacy", a discrimination against other body parts.”
Of course this is just a joke over political correctness, but still has some epistemological meaning. Literary speaking, here the tiger’s butt is actually a point representing the whole tiger. The tiger is an organic living body, and its parts cannot be separated. Therefore, Huang Yong-Yu’s question has a playful satirical effect.
Interestingly, truth is also an organic system with a living soul. However, our logical analysis often splits it and regards specific observation or fragmented facts as truth. The reason why we regard phenomena, data, and facts as truth is because we do not know the truth. We are always on the road to seeking the truth. Whether we can understand the truth depends on how the truth reveals itself to us through telling a series of constantly renewed stories. That is why we have historically developing science and scientific revolution. We as the knowers are not the story teller. We are in the story.