To begin my 1st blog, I would like to share a quote that somewhat relates to Plato’s cave. The legendary musician Jimi Hendrix once said, “Knowledge is power, power is wisdom.” I could not agree more. With knowledge, the truth, of whatever it may be, can be accepted. No one sees the truth in its true form. We are all individuals, we are all unique, and thus everyone has a different perspective on what is true. This reading is important to me because it shows that truth can come in all forms. Plato did a remarkable job at looking at the deeper meanings behind every thing. It can be from shadows of animals on the wall of a cave or reading the words printed in a book. This brings me back to Jimi’s quote. The light represents knowledge, which is power. On a consistent basis, it has been experience that has shown me the truth. I feel there truly is no other way to find the true meaning of anything without going through life’s experiences. The prisoners in the cave were helpless without the guidance from the light. The prisoners in the cave had a tunnel vision; they had a very narrow view of the world. The cave has a much deeper, symbolical meaning. Caves are dark, shallow, and empty. The empty cave represents an empty mind, which has no meaning. The cave can also represent society in how humans live by the social norms, and conformity. Once you bring in light or (knowledge) into that emptiness it gives it truth. The light that blinds us can be extremely overwhelming. This relates to how I felt when I was in my first calculus course in high school. The teacher gave a lot of information that became overwhelming for me. I could not handle the brightness of the light or the knowledge that was being thrown to me.
Another example may be, there is an apple on the floor in a dark room, and you can see the object but only from its outer layer, its shape. Once light enters the dark room, you see it in full detail; its rich color, stem, texture. Truth of the apple has come to us through the vision we now have of it with the aid of light. Yet, this is only the beginning. For us to search more truth of the apple, we could take a bite of it, find where it came from and find the deeper meanings using experience. The sun creates life and helps things grow. The more we can learn, the more we grow as an individual. Growth for humans is essential to a healthy lifestyle. Someone that opposes growth will never change and become stagnant. It seemed that the prisoners or students of Plato were resisting the opportunity to become enlightened or aware. Why? They were comfortable and had no desire for change. They are followers and ultimately had no desire to learn and grow.
