Understanding the Dead Horse Theory: A Deep Dive
What is Dead Horse Theory?
It is a sarcastic metaphor that explains that there are some people, institutions or nations who deal with a clear problem as if it is incomprehensible, but instead of acknowledging the truth, they turn a blind eye and are skilled at justifying it. The idea is simple:
If you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best and simplest solution is to get off it and leave it. But the reality is:
There are people, institutions or nations who, instead of getting off the horse, take other measures such as:
1. They bring a new saddle.
2. They bring fodder for the horse.
3. They change the rider who is riding it.
4. They dismiss the employee who is taking care of it and bring a new employee in his place.
5. They hold meetings to discuss measures to increase the horse's speed.
6. They form committees and work teams to study the dead horse and analyze the issue from all sides. The committee works for months and then submits reports and proposed solutions for the dead horse.
7. In the end, the committees reach the same conclusion, which is known from the beginning "the horse is dead".
8. But with all the effort, resources and time wasted, they persist in telling the truth, and in order to justify it, they compare the horse to other dead horses like it and recommend that the horse is dead because it lacks training and needs a training course.
9. This course requires increasing the horse's budget.
10. Finally, they redefine the word "dead" to convince themselves that the horse is still alive.
The lesson learned from this theory reveals how many people prefer to remain in denial of reality and waste their time and effort in failed attempts, instead of acknowledging the problem from the beginning and addressing it.