Things Aren't Always What They Seem...

There's a scene from the first Star Wars movie (now known as Episode IV - A New Hope) in which Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi tells a young Luke Skywalker, "Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them."  While I thought it was a great scene when I first saw it in 1977, I didn't quite appreciate that the quote actually comes from Phaedrus, the Socratic dialogue by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.  In that dialogue, Phaedrus says, "Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many."  That's pretty much the same thing that Obi-wan said, am I right?

Obi-wan (or Phaedrus, depending on who you like better) actually makes a really valid point.  Things aren't always what they seem.  Take a look at the following video which shows the underwater waterfall off the coast of Mauritius Island.  While the waterfall is more impressive when viewed in real-time, here's a still image that is really interesting as well:

Mauritius (officially known as the Republic of Mauritius) is a small island nation located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, approximately 560 kilometers to the east of Madagascar.  It's perhaps best known now as an idyllic tourist destination, but it's also famous for being home to the now extinct Dodo Bird.  The island is also known for its famous "underwater waterfall", which is located near a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Le Morne Brabant Mountain (a 556 meter mountain near the tip of the Le Morne Peninsula, which can be seen in the photograph above).  Le Morne Brabant Mountain was a refuge for escaped slaves during the 18th and early 19th centuries.  The "underwater waterfall" is actually an optical illusion.  The island itself sits on a submarine plateau, or ocean shelf, that is no deeper than 150 meters below sea level.  However, the shelf quickly drops off to depths of over 4,000 meters below sea level.  What you are seeing is not water falling off the shelf, but rather sand and silt.  It's not really a waterfall, as much as it is an underwater "sandfall".  It's absolutely stunning to look at, even on a computer monitor screen!

So again, things aren't always what they seem.  The famous "underwater waterfall" is really just a bunch of sand and silt.  Mauritius Island's famous "underwater waterfall" is a great metaphor for the High Reliability Organization (HRO) principle of "Reluctance to Simplify".  The simplest explanation (often the easiest explanation) is rarely the correct one.  Dig deeper for the truth and do not simplify.  Don't be fooled by an optical illusion.  If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn't true.  Or as Obi-wan admonishes Luke, ""Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them."