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.
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A couple really good points I wanted to respond to here. The first is your comparison of the cave to an empty mind. Another term which might work here is the cave as a closed mind. A closed mind not only sees everything solely in its own way, according to its own opinions and feelings, etc, it also lacks, as you say, "meaning". "Meaning" is something that people build and share together, whether as individuals, communities, nations, etc. The closed mind, by contrast, is vulnerable to being selfish, self-isolated, narcissistic, solipsistic, monomaniacal etc. You make a good point that this happens when we don't push and strive to know and foster truths, "the good", and authentic knowledge of things, or when we resist the opportunity to become aware of deeper truths.
ReplyDelete(as a side note, this would mean that there are greater, universal principles that go beyond our individual selves and interconnect humanity, and if so, it may be possible to gain shared or common perspectives; this could complicate your note that "no one sees the truth in its true form."...).
Why do you think people---even students such as Plato's---resist the truth? This is a big question, and cuts to the heart of why the truth, Plato's sun or greater good, actually hurts and could cause those who see it tremendous suffering (a major Buddhist tenet as well). A couple good movies to consider writing about this topic for your essay might be American History X, or A Clockwork Orange.
Good writing throughout: very thought-provoking with sound interpretive depth. My only advice, which is minor, would be to make the blogs even more personal, using your own experience or concrete observations to ground the good points you're making. Also, I've learned in my own writing that breaking long blocks of text down into smaller paragraphs helps orient your reader. Something to consider for the next one. Good work,
JM
Thank you Professor Morris for all of your helpful, insightful and interesting comments. I will makes sure to remember to have my text in smaller paragraphs for the reader. What was your take on the Jimi Hendrix quote that I included in the beginning of my blog. How does it relate to Plato's Cave. The Matrix and the Allegory of the Cave are very similar. Some of the lines from Morpheus are dead even with the story. I also agree on making it more personal. I will work on that for future blogs. How will your movie recommendations help me with my paper. I have seen American History X and am still trying to figure out the deeper meanings. Thanks again. Matt Hageman
ReplyDeleteDerrek (Edward Norton's character) in American History X does take a noble path towards the truth in that movie, all the more inspiring given how deeply mired he was in darkness in hate. By the time he comes out of jail, he understands virtues like morality, humaneness, and love, and he tries to make up for his past sins by getting his brother off of the same path to destruction and destructiveness that he had been on. But---and this is a serious but---for all his good intentions and regret, and for all the knowledge he has acquired about moral truth, Derrek can't fix everything like he had hoped. The climax of the movie hammers that point in: with his truth comes so much suffering, some of which he is responsible and some of which has to do with the way the world works.
ReplyDeleteThese issues are explored with even more depth by Clockwork Orange, a masterpiece of a book and movie if you haven't seen/read them. Come by my office hours if you'd like to discuss them.
JM