Plato's Cave - Psychic Prisons, Perceptions of your reality and How to Escape ...

I know all the readers here are very intelligent people, and so this may be something that may or may not change your view of life, people, cultures, nations and life. I make no excuse, this can be heavy reading, and should you decide to read it and try to understand it, you will possibly start thinking differently about people and life. Be Brave :)

This philosophy is 2500 years old, but is still as important today as it was then. So much so, The Matrix Film uses it as a theme throughout.

Plato's Cave

Inside the cave Socrates begins by describing a scenario in which what people take to be real would in fact be an illusion. He asks Glaucon to imagine a cave inhabited by prisoners who have been chained and held immobile since childhood: not only are their arms and legs held in place, but their heads are also fixed, compelled to gaze at a wall in front of them. Behind the prisoners is an enormous fire, and between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway, along which people walk carrying things on their heads "including figures of men and animals made of wood, stone and other materials" The prisoners can only watch the shadows cast by the men, not knowing they are shadows. There are also echoes off the wall from the noise produced from the walkway.

Socrates asks if it is not reasonable that the prisoners would take the shadows to be real things and the echoes to be real sounds, not just reflections of reality, since they are all they had ever seen or heard. Wouldn't they praise as clever whoever could best guess which shadow would come next, as someone who understood the nature of the world? And wouldn't the whole of their society depend on the shadows on the wall?

Release from the cave

Socrates next introduces something new to this scenario. Suppose that a prisoner is freed and permitted to stand up. If someone were to show him the things that had cast the shadows, he would not recognize them for what they were and could not name them; he would believe the shadows on the wall to be more real than what he sees. "Suppose further", Socrates says, "that the man was compelled to look at the fire: wouldn't he be struck blind and try to turn his gaze back toward the shadows, as toward what he can see clearly and hold to be real? What if someone forcibly dragged such a man upward, out of the cave: wouldn't the man be angry at the one doing this to him? And if dragged all the way out into the sunlight, wouldn't he be distressed and unable to see "even one of the things now said to be true", for example the shadows on the wall? After some time on the surface, however, Socrates suggests that the freed prisoner would acclimate. He would see more and more things around him, until he could look upon the Sun. He would understand that the Sun is the "source of the seasons and the years, and is the steward of all things in the visible place, and is in a certain way the cause of all those things he and his companions had been seeing"

Return to the cave

Socrates next asks Glaucon to consider the condition of this man. "Wouldn't he remember his first home, what passed for wisdom there, and his fellow prisoners, and consider himself happy and them pitiable? And wouldn't he disdain whatever honours, praises, and prizes were awarded there to the ones who guessed best which shadows followed which? Moreover, were he to return there, wouldn't he be rather bad at their game, no longer being accustomed to the darkness? "Wouldn't it be said of him that he went up and came back with his eyes corrupted, and that it's not even worth trying to go up? And if they were somehow able to get their hands on and kill the man who attempts to release and lead up, wouldn't they kill him?

Questions and analogies

We all live and work in a form of Plato's Cave. We live in families that influence our thoughts and beliefs. We live in a small society (village/town/city) that teaches us and influences our thoughts and beliefs. We all live in countries and groups of countries the educate, teach and influence our thoughts. We are the subjects of all of the influences and teachings of our family, friends, peers, society and life. We all live in a certain type of reality. That reality is different to everyone else's reality. However, as a society or group, we live in a shared perception of a reality. (The Matrix Film is an example of this... all the people who dreamed they were alive, but were really kept alive as power sources for the machines)

If we are to only look at, learn, consider, read, think one thing, how can we learn more or accept that there may be another life, another way of doing things, a better or easier way, a life outside of the one we know? If we accept that this is all there is, are we not also locked in a Plato's Cave?

Any Country/City/Village/Social Circle/Family is a Plato's Cave. The inhabitants who are unable to escape their surrounds and believe, as they have not seen all the other places in the world, that all other places and countries are the same as theirs. Should you try to explain that other places have different lives, different houses, different people, culture, beliefs and lives, they would find it difficult to accept as their REALITY is different. So much so, that YOU as the giver/sharer of the knowledge would be seen as: A braggard, a dreamer, a liar, a fool or worse, a dangerous person! (When Keanu Reeves is awakened from the dream, he cannot believe what is being told him by those who freed him)

So, how do you break free from your Plato's cave?

The first step is to acknowledge that everything you have ever learned, seen or believed in, may not be so, or at least, may be different than you perceive it to be.

The next step is to accept that in reality, you know nothing and that from this point forward, it is your (and only your) role to involve yourself in the pursuit of knowledge... all knowledge, irrespective of what it is or affects you.

Step three is not to accept that anything that is written down in books, newspapers or magazines etc is necessarily true or accurate. The best theories can be torn apart, there is no absolute truth. You only believe that the Sun is hot, because you have been taught that, and that this is a generally accepted truth. However, as no one has actually been to the Sun... who knows? Maybe the Sun is not hot and we are warmed by something else? (I know, the Sun is probably hot and our source of light and heat, however, this is only an example!)

Step four. Analyse everything and do not just read or learn from one source. Research many sources and also the arguments... then make YOUR decision.

Step five. Open your Mind – read this excerpt from Zen Buddhism: Lesson 1 - A Cup of Tea Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912) received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. 'It is overfull. No more will go in!' ‘Like this cup,' Nan-in said. ‘You are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?

Step Six. Accept that from now on, if you have understood thus far, you will no longer be willing to accept your reality and that of those around you... and that should you decide to 'enlighten' others, you may be perceived as being a fool, a dreamer or dangerous!

Step seven. Once you have understood all of the above, it is now your responsibilty and duty to ensure that the lessons are passed on and that you never once close your mind to the possibility of other things, other realities, other solutions, other methods of doing things, other peoples opinions, other peoples' lives... Remember, we are are only humans and we all have prejudices and failings, it is the understanding of this that matters.

Step eight... tell your teacher(s) what you have learned and what you understand. AND, if you choose to disagree with the teaching, then have a suitably researched argument and an honest belief in what you are saying

Step Nine. Be prepared to be the “Devils Advocate” in any situation. (The Devils Advocate is a Catholic Church Member who argues against someone being given a Sainthood. They may be believers, and others will argue the good or known points. The DA has to give the counterpoints based upon research and honesty) So, if someone says there is no god, although you may believe this, there is a counter argument and the DA should be willing to see that and present that argument.

Finally Step Ten. Read all of this again, every time you think you know everything!