Can you imagine anyone who would willingly stay a prisoner in his own surroundings? Well, unless you are willing to explore and venture from your comfort zone, learning ceases to exist. Plato’s analogy was a little confusing until I done some further research in order to understand Plato’s concept. Plato was considered the most creative and influential of Socrates’ disciples. The Allegory of the Cave sums up Plato’s views in an image of ignorant humanity, trapped in the depths and not even aware of its own limited perspective. When the rare individual leaves the limitations of the cave and, through a long, tortuous journey, he discovers a higher realm, a true reality, a mystical awareness of Goodness as the origin of everything that exists. That person is then the best equipped to lead in society, having knowledge of what is ultimately important in life and not just a knowledge of techniques. Plato warns that the person who emerges will frequently be misunderstood by ordinary people back in the cave who haven’t shared in outside world. If Plato was alive today, he might replace the image of a cave with a movie theater, with the projector replacing the fire, the film replacing the shadows, the cave wall with the movie screen, playing the same movie over and over. The important point is that the prisoners in the cave are not seeing reality, but only a shadowy representation of it. The importance of the allegory is Plato’s belief that there are invisible truths lying under the surface of things which only the most enlightened can grasp. In the world of illusion in the cave, prisoners at first resist enlightenment, like some students resist higher education. But those who achieve deserve to be leaders. I really liked Plato’s statement when he said, “the education is not a process of putting knowledge into empty minds, but of making people realize what they already know.” Expand your knowledge by looking beyond or behind barriers.
