Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” the people are,
obviously, us. We have no choice but to believe what we are told because it’s
the only thing we’ve ever known. When the prisoner was lead into sunlight, he
was removed from his ignorance. Although at first apprehensive, he eventually
learns the truth about life and acquired knowledge he didn’t previously have,
thus “broadening his horizons.” As he returns to the cave he is ostracized
because the other prisoners refuse to accept what he has to tell them since all they have ever known as the truth is suddenly being called false. They’re
being told that everything they’ve ever based their lives on is incorrect and
foolish, and they don’t take kindly to this.
This
aspect of the cave, the unwillingness to learn more is, and forever will
continue to be, confusing to me. I relish on the idea of learning. My mind is a
sponge that mops up knowledge like it’s no one’s business (unless it’s
chemistry, I really understand none of that). To me, closing your mind to
learning is very prevalent in today’s culture. People are constantly setting
themselves up for failure when they decide to be close-minded. Some of it is
just ridiculous, teenagers refusing to pay attention in class because their
teacher is sassy or hard-core bible students totally ignoring the existence of
dinosaurs (THERE ARE LITERALLY MUSEUMS FULL OF BONES AND PROOF. HOW COULD YOU JUST REFUSE ALL THAT?). So to me, in
modern day, Plato’s cave is all about the ignorance of people and their refusal
to educate themselves or be told that they're, perhaps, wrong.
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