LAWLzoR

Plato's Allegory of the Cave

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LAWLzoR
, 08-02-2013 at 01:40 AM (1495 Views)
So imagine some people tied by their necks and legs in a cave. They are facing the wall of the cave, and because they are tied up, they can only face the wall of the cave. They cannot turn their head around. Now in the cave behind them there is a fire where they can see shadows. Now like a shadow puppet show, there is a wall so the people can hide while they operate the puppets. The people who are tied up, the slaves, see these puppets and see them as reality. Now also in the cave there are echoes from the people who operate the puppets and from the noise outside. They think that the shadows make those noises. The collection of the shadows and echoes form the slaves' reality. Now imagine that someone frees one of them. Now since they've lived their entire life (ENTIRE LIFE) looking at the shadows, they'll be hesitant to turn around. But someone forces the slave to turn around and they see the puppets and the fire. They see the true reality. Then the slave is dragged out of the cave and into the sunlight. Of course since they've been in the cave for their entire life, their eyes will not be adjusted to the light. So when they start living in the outside they'll first spend their time staring at the shadows, then at the reflections in the water or whatnot, and then at the objects themselves. They are slowly seeing the true reality and not the one they were presented.

Now to tell you what it means in the context of education (which was the intent of the story)

We all begin as one of the slaves. Without an education, we are one of the slaves. We are seeing a reality that is told and shown to us. But with an education, we are being freed. Slowly, but surely, we see the reality of the world, slowly adjusting to the world and its surroundings and its truths. After, we may feel compelled to tell the rest about the world we experienced.

So basically, Socrates (and in turn Plato) said that without an education, we will believe anything and will believe in a reality that is simply told to us. But with education, and exploration, we slowly discover the true world, and one that wasn't simply told to us, but one we experienced and proved to be true.
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Education

Comments

  1. sane's Avatar
    You make me feel like a babbling idgit.
  2. GonadTheNomad's Avatar
    I don't know, downright torture from birth sounds pretty bad.

    Bering stupid...you get cookies and stuff.

    No, wait, that's childhood.
  3. LAWLzoR's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by The Fourth Gunnut
    I don't know, downright torture from birth sounds pretty bad.

    Bering stupid...you get cookies and stuff.

    No, wait, that's childhood.
    Being ignorant, you get bliss.
  4. GonadTheNomad's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by LAWLzoR
    Being ignorant, you get bliss.
    Yeah, that.
  5. LAWLzoR's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by SaneButStrange
    You make me feel like a babbling idgit.
    Awwww :c I sowwee
    I only meant to tell you guys about the allegory.
  6. sane's Avatar
    You're literally the smartest person I know.
  7. LAWLzoR's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by SaneButStrange
    You're literally the smartest person I know.
    You're too kind x3
  8. Facilier's Avatar
    Why would they have a puppet show in a dark cavern that smells like Slave piss and not an old theatre or street show. And how would they see shadows if their face was pressed up against a cave wall? How would they eat and drink as such too? And they've been slaves since they were born? That seems harsh. And if I was a life slave I would want to turn around and get the hell out of there immediately, not this hesitant crap. And education is basically being told whats right and the right way to do things so....meh.

    YOU SIT ON A THRONE OF LIES
  9. GonadTheNomad's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Brad
    Why would they have a puppet show in a dark cavern that smells like Slave piss and not an old theatre or street show. And how would they see shadows if their face was pressed up against a cave wall? How would they eat and drink as such too? And they've been slaves since they were born? That seems harsh. And if I was a life slave I would want to turn around and get the hell out of there immediately, not this hesitant crap. And education is basically being told whats right and the right way to do things so....meh.

    YOU SIT ON A THRONE OF LIES
    Of course you would GTFO immediately, you've grown up with freedom and shit, if you were stuck there for your life, you'd be like, "Out...side?"
  10. Facilier's Avatar
    How would they learn speech if they were in a cave for their whole life?

    YOU ARE THE JESTER TO THE THRONE OF LIES
  11. GonadTheNomad's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Brad
    How would they learn speech if they were in a cave for their whole life?

    YOU ARE THE JESTER TO THE THRONE OF LIES
    They hear the puppeteers talk.
  12. LAWLzoR's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Brad
    Why would they have a puppet show in a dark cavern that smells like Slave piss and not an old theatre or street show. And how would they see shadows if their face was pressed up against a cave wall? How would they eat and drink as such too? And they've been slaves since they were born? That seems harsh. And if I was a life slave I would want to turn around and get the hell out of there immediately, not this hesitant crap. And education is basically being told whats right and the right way to do things so....meh.

    YOU SIT ON A THRONE OF LIES
    1. It would be in a cave so that slaves only knew what they were telling them and no more. Remember knowledge is power.
    2. Their face isn't pressed up against the cave wall, it's just forced to look at it.
    3. Of course they were fed and such.
    4. Yes. They were slaves their entire lives. This is ANCIENT GREECE we're talking about. And speaking about ancient Greece
    5. You really think old theatres existed in ancient Greece? All they had that resembled a theatre were semi-circle outdoor stages with seats elevating up. Kinda like this http://stagehistory.webs.com/ancientgreektheatre.htm So they technically had theatres, but not the way we see it today. And I restate, it's in a cave because the people only want slaves to know what they tell them.
    6. How in the world would you turn your head around? If you read what I wrote, you would've known that you were tied at the neck and the feet in such a way that you wouldn't turn around unless someone else untied you.
    7. Exactly. Education teaches the truth (so long as it isn't corrupted education)
    8. How would they learn language? Well as for the one who was dragged out of the cave, you'd think he'd catch onto the Greek language after a while. As for the slaves, don't you think they would try to name the objects? They couldn't speak to each other, but in their own heads, surely they would try to name the things. This part of the allegory wasn't clear, I'm sorry, but it isn't important.
    9. Like what GN said, imagine you've been in that cave your entire life and couldn't leave. Sooner or later, surely you'd find a way to be comfortable with the cave and would be hesitant to go outside, so you'd have to be dragged. Think about why you live in a house and why you shouldn't talk to strangers. It's because you know your house and don't know your strangers. You'd have no idea what the outside held. They could have monsters, or even the creatures that the puppeteers showed you. People like to be comfortable, so the slave would be hesitant because the cave is what he knows.
    Updated 08-02-2013 at 12:46 PM by LAWLzoR
  13. Facilier's Avatar
    1. I don't think people would go out of there way to have a puppet show in a shit-cave just so slaves become more demoralized.
    2. Alrighty DEN. hahahahah
    3. That would be rather difficult and not worth it
    4. Slave 4 lifffeee
    5.Well then they wouldn't even have puppet shows NOW WOULD THEY
    6.SO THEY COULDN'T TURN THEIR HEADS EYYYYY? and I meant once they were free to go outside
    7.So......theres no truth then :P
    8. Not really. If I was just now abducted and taken to China, were I spent say thirty years in a dark cave only hearing a few words, I doubt I would learn ANY Chinese.
    9.Meh
  14. LAWLzoR's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Brad
    1. I don't think people would go out of there way to have a puppet show in a shit-cave just so slaves become more demoralized.
    2. Alrighty DEN. hahahahah
    3. That would be rather difficult and not worth it
    4. Slave 4 lifffeee
    5.Well then they wouldn't even have puppet shows NOW WOULD THEY
    6.SO THEY COULDN'T TURN THEIR HEADS EYYYYY? and I meant once they were free to go outside
    7.So......theres no truth then :P
    8. Not really. If I was just now abducted and taken to China, were I spent say thirty years in a dark cave only hearing a few words, I doubt I would learn ANY Chinese.
    9.Meh
    1. Controlling more people means more power, especially over slaves. Most slaves around the world weren't educated. They were figuratively in the cave, only learning about the reality told to them, not the reality that's real.
    3. Difficult to feed them? Not really. And it would be worth it, because it means you control another person and what they believe. In real life in N. Korea, the citizens are told that the leaders are descendants of or are gods. Granted they aren't fed a lot, the gov't still controls their food.
    5. Yes, they could still have puppet shows. You don't need a theatre to do a puppet show. You can do it in your own frickin' house.
    6. Read my number 9 again. People like being comfortable and knowing about their surroundings. There's a reason why you just don't leave your house. Because you know your house, and you don't know the outside.
    7. Corrupted education teaches lies. True education teaches the truth. I have no idea where you got that conclusion.
    8. I meant once the slave was taken out of the cave bro. "Well as for the one who was dragged out of the cave..."
    9. Shah mat.
  15. Uprising's Avatar
    I like how whenever somebody challenges LAWLzoR he just pwns the shit out of them with facts.
  16. LAWLzoR's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Uprising
    I like how whenever somebody challenges LAWLzoR he just pwns the shit out of them with facts.
    I'm fine with people challenging me. It means that they're learning. And besides if I'm wrong, then two people are learning. It's a win win situation.
  17. Faker's Avatar
    Guys, remember. This is just an allegory used to support a hypothesis. There's not really any slaves in a cave forced to watch puppeteer shows. Though, you both make valid points. However, LAWL's holds a bit more water than Brad's. One thing people from nowadays, back to people long ago all have one thing in common. Human instinct is to want power, to have control. And some of the more determined ones would do anything, which could lead to this situation in Plato's allegory.
  18. LAWLzoR's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Yackerz
    Guys, remember. This is just an allegory used to support a hypothesis. There's not really any slaves in a cave forced to watch puppeteer shows. Though, you both make valid points. However, LAWL's holds a bit more water than Brad's. One thing people from nowadays, back to people long ago all have one thing in common. Human instinct is to want power, to have control. And some of the more determined ones would do anything, which could lead to this situation in Plato's allegory.
    Exactly. And considering Greece was mainly either an aristocracy, aristocratic democracy, or a form of monarchy, this situation probably could've easily happened back in Socrates' and in Plato's time (the allegory was originally told by Socrates and was passed down to Plato, so my sources say).