The Emperor’s New Reality

A Slight Adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s Tale

Many years ago there was an Emperor so exceedingly eager to show his fitness of mind that he spent all his time and money on showcasing his “genius”. He cared nothing about the safety of his subjects, the health of his people, or even his own enjoyment, except to show off that he was the cleverest Emperor ever to have lived. He had a fabulous tale for every hour of the day, and instead of saying, as one might about any other ruler, “The King’s in council,” here they always said, “The Emperor’s addressing his crowds.”

In the great city he inherited, life was prosperous. Every day many strangers came to town, and among them one day came three swindlers. They called themselves “fabricators of reality,” and they said they could weave the Emperor’s magnificent fantasies into a “truth” no one could deny. Not only were their colorful promises and enticing messages difficult to refuse, but the versions of reality made out of whole cloth had a wonderful way of being more captivating than anything real could possibly be.

The Emperor, they tempted, could “prove his brilliance” by employing them and declaring as unfit for office or unusually stupid anyone who disagreed with his version of “reality”. Unable to resist the realization of his lifelong dreams, the Emperor paid the three swindlers a large sum of money to start work at once.

They set up their workshops and pretended to get to work, though no material was needed but thin air. All the finest riches and the purest gold in the world, which they demanded, went into their traveling bags while they toiled away in their workshops far into the night.

The Emperor occasionally doubted himself as to whether reality could truly be fabricated, and, not trusting his own eyes or ears, thought he’d rather send someone else to see how things were going. “I’ll send my honest old minister to the fabricators,” the Emperor decided. “He’ll be the best one to tell me how the new reality looks, for he’s a sensible man and no one does his duty better” (in truth, now too committed to believing that the projections of his mind could become real, he sent someone who would tell him what he wished to hear).

So the “honest” old minister visited where the three swindlers sat working away in their empty workshops. “Heaven help me,” he thought as his eyes flew wide open, “I can’t see anything at all.” But having been chosen for his incapacity to say what the Emperor did not wish to hear, he did not say so. “Oh, it’s beautiful—it’s enchanting,” he told the Emperor.

The swindlers at once asked for more money, more of the finest riches of the land and the purest gold, to get on with the fabricating. But it all went into their pockets. Not a speck went into the new “reality”, though they spent longer hours in their workshops than ever.

The Emperor presently sent another “trustworthy” official to see how the work progressed and how soon it would be ready. The same thing happened to him that had happened to the minister. He looked and looked, but as there was nothing to see in the workshops, he could not see anything.

However, by now the official understood that, after all the Emperor’s investments, if he were to report that he did not find the new “reality” fabulous and beyond compare, he would not only be out of his good office but may be castigated, vanquished, and expelled. “I mustn’t be the one to let anyone find it out,” he thought to himself. So he praised the new “reality” he did not see. He declared he was delighted with the beautiful material and the exquisite design. To the Emperor he said, “It held me spellbound.”

All the town was talking of this splendid new “reality”, and the Emperor wanted to see it for himself while it was still in the workshops. Attended by a band of chosen men, among whom were his two old trusted officials—the ones who had been to the fabricators—he set out to see the three swindlers. He found them fabricating with might and main, but without a shred of substance in their workshops.

“Magnificent,” said the two officials already duped. “Just look, Your Majesty, what textures! What a design!” They pointed to the empty workshops, one after the other, each supposing that the others could see the stuff.

The Emperor, deep down, knew that nothing was there. But the swindlers had promised him that he could become the arbiter of reality, and that “reality” was more convincing than anything in the outer world. All he needed to do was to approve. “Oh! It’s outstanding,” he said. “It has my highest approval.” And he nodded approbation at the empty workshops. Nothing could make him admit that he didn’t see anything.

His whole retinue stared and stared. One saw no more than another, but they all joined the Emperor in exclaiming, “Oh! It’s outstanding,” and they advised him to present this new “reality” made of whole cloth especially for the great procession he was soon to lead. “Magnificent! Excellent! Unsurpassed!” were bandied from mouth to mouth, and everyone did one’s best to seem well pleased. The Emperor gave each of the swindlers a cross to wear in his buttonhole, and the title of “Sir Fabricator.”

Before the procession the swindlers sat up all night and burned more than six candles, to show how busy they were finishing the Emperor’s new “reality”. They pretended to take the new “reality” out of their workshops to present to the world. They sewed the pieces together in the air with huge needles. And at last they said, “Now the Emperor’s new reality is ready for him.”

Then the Emperor himself came with his noblest noblemen, and the swindlers each raised an arm as if they were holding something. They said, “This is the sky, here’s the land, and these are the riches the people will gain,” explaining the design. “All of it is as thin as a sheer cloth. One would almost think nothing had changed, but that’s what makes it so flawless.”

“Exactly,” all the noblemen agreed, though they could see nothing, for there was nothing to see.

“If Your Imperial Majesty will condescend to dismantle the old reality,” said the swindlers, “we will help you install your new reality here, before all the people.”

The Emperor disassembled his old Empire, and the swindlers pretended to install the new one. “How well Your Majesty’s new reality looks!” He heard on all sides, “That design, so perfect! Those materials, so suitable! It is a magnificent new world.”

Then the minister of public processions announced: “Your Majesty’s canopy is waiting outside.”

“Well, I’m supposed to be ready,” the Emperor said, and the noblemen who were to carry the reality made of whole cloth behind him stooped low and reached for the floor as if they were picking up a screen behind him. Then they pretended to lift and hold it high. They didn’t dare admit they had nothing to hold.

So off went the Emperor in procession under his splendid canopy. Everyone in the streets and the windows said, “Oh, how fine is the Emperor’s new reality! Doesn’t it fit our world to perfection? Just see the future possibilities it unfolds!” Nobody would confess that one couldn’t see anything, for that would prove one either unfit for one’s position, or a fool. Besides, he was offering them a “reality” far better than what anything anyone had experienced in real life. No plan an Emperor had before for his people was ever such a complete success.

“But there isn’t anything behind what he’s presenting,” a naïve healer of the mind said.

“Did you ever hear such artless drivel?” said more sophisticated, senior healers of the mind. And one person whispered to another what the naïve healer had said, “He hasn’t anything behind him. A healer of the mind says it is all in his mind.”

“But he hasn’t got anything behind him!” the whole town cried out at last.

The Emperor shivered, for the truth he had been trying to hide was found out. But he thought, “This procession has got to go on.” So he walked, more confidently than ever, and be it force or might or the military itself, he was determined to bring down all he can to maintain the results and reality of his “genius”.

Announcement:

Dr. Bandy X. Lee will hold a live session on:

“A Curriculum on One World or None”

This Friday, January 24, 2025, at 12 noon EST/9 a.m. PST on Zoom. A paid subscription is required to receive a link the morning before. Thank you!

Dr. Lee is a forensic and social psychiatrist who became known to the public through her 2017 Yale conference and book that emphasized the importance of fit leadership. In 2019, she organized a major National Press Club Conference on the theme of, “The Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership.” In 2024, she followed up with another major Conference, “The More Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership.” She published another book on fit leadership, in addition to a volume on how unfitness in a leader spreads, and two critical statements on fit leadership. Dr. Lee authored the internationally-acclaimed textbook, Violence; over 100 peer-reviewed articles and chapters; and 17 scholarly books and journal special issues, in addition to over 300 opinion editorials. She is currently developing a new curriculum of public education on “One World or None.”