Examples Of Plato's Response To The Allegory Of The Cave
David Arroyo
Professor Moremi Ogbara
English 1A
23 March 2018
Allegory of the Cave Response #2
In today's world, we have many technological and scientific progressions that we as a populace utilize for the comfort of our daily lives; however, there is still much about this world that we don’t know. Many scientists today find evidence that may conflict with the teachings of certain organized religions, and it is because of this that many people in our societies have a hard time accepting these discoveries and progressions. Much like the characters in the selection, even with access to information and research, people will have a very difficult time accepting new realities. It is my firm belief that there is no specific time period that correlates to the human response of denial, even when evidence is present. It will be my objective in this paper to illustrate how just like in Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”, our time period is also plagued by our misinterpretations because of our own immersion with …show more content…
the ‘shadows’.
PERSONAL INTERPRETATION
In Plato’s story, he talks about these inhabitants of the cave, that these people are living their lives without knowing much of the workings of the world around them.
They would continue to live life in the dark, even if presented with the opportunity to see the world in a new light. Change can bring about uncertainty and discomfort in life, leading many to intentionally live life in ignorance of the truth.
Modern Comparison. When I read this story, I couldn’t help but think of a medium of storytelling that is often overlooked in regards to research: video games. One game in particular, Fallout, deals with a society living in an underground vault that is secluded from the rest of the world and you the player are forced to adapt to this new world, or fall victim to it. I think that the themes of adapting to the new world and denying our perceptions are strong in both stories, where Plato writes about the reluctance to accept change, Fallout deals with the same
theme.
One highlight that really drives that point of unwillingness to accept change, is from a character that denies the player from entrance back into the vaulted community in fear that his exposed point of view may corrupt the youth living in the vault, “They'll want to leave. What happens to the Vault if we lose the best of a generation? What if we are the only safe place in the world? You just gave us back all these lives... I can't take the chance of losing them. I've made a lot of tough decisions since I took this position. But none of them harder than this one. You saved us, but you'll kill us. I'm sorry. You're a hero... and you have to leave.” (Fallout) Similar to the section, “...At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains: the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows…” (Plato)
Correlation. Plato addresses themes that are still relevant to this day, only we see this more readily in people who dismiss scientific discovery and reason for religious purposes. I also believe that this will be an issue that won’t be going away for a very long time, as denial is part of human nature. Take for example, in a debate between Ken Ham and Bill Nye, Bill states the following, “If anybody makes a discovery, that changes the way people view natural law, scientists embrace him or her. This person is fantastic, Louis Pasteur, in reference to germs. No, if you find something that changes or disagrees with the common thought, that’s the greatest thing going in science.” (Bill Nye debates Ken Ham) He has a very different ideology when it comes to perceiving the world as we know it, he like many open minded people are more willing to accept change in our world as opposed to those who are taught tin the same subject matter, yielding different and possibly untrue results.
CONCLUSION
In regards to the question: How does the allegory of the prisoners watching the shadows relate to us today? We can say that things like curiosity, doubt, stubbornness, open-mindedness, and access to information all play factors in how we perceive our world and where we stand in this cave. I believe that denial and unwillingness to accept change will still be a problem in our society, for a long time at least, before the future generation might be able to be more open to the understanding of this physical and measurable world.
Works Cited
“The Allegory of the Cave.” Plato's the Republic, by Plato, The Modern Library, 1966.
Fallout. Windows PC version, Interplay Entertainment, Black Isle Studios, 1997.
"Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham". Http://Debatelive.Org, 2014,
Professor Moremi Ogbara
English 1A
23 March 2018
Allegory of the Cave Response #2
In today's world, we have many technological and scientific progressions that we as a populace utilize for the comfort of our daily lives; however, there is still much about this world that we don’t know. Many scientists today find evidence that may conflict with the teachings of certain organized religions, and it is because of this that many people in our societies have a hard time accepting these discoveries and progressions. Much like the characters in the selection, even with access to information and research, people will have a very difficult time accepting new realities. It is my firm belief that there is no specific time period that correlates to the human response of denial, even when evidence is present. It will be my objective in this paper to illustrate how just like in Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”, our time period is also plagued by our misinterpretations because of our own immersion with …show more content…
the ‘shadows’.
PERSONAL INTERPRETATION
In Plato’s story, he talks about these inhabitants of the cave, that these people are living their lives without knowing much of the workings of the world around them.
They would continue to live life in the dark, even if presented with the opportunity to see the world in a new light. Change can bring about uncertainty and discomfort in life, leading many to intentionally live life in ignorance of the truth.
Modern Comparison. When I read this story, I couldn’t help but think of a medium of storytelling that is often overlooked in regards to research: video games. One game in particular, Fallout, deals with a society living in an underground vault that is secluded from the rest of the world and you the player are forced to adapt to this new world, or fall victim to it. I think that the themes of adapting to the new world and denying our perceptions are strong in both stories, where Plato writes about the reluctance to accept change, Fallout deals with the same
theme.
One highlight that really drives that point of unwillingness to accept change, is from a character that denies the player from entrance back into the vaulted community in fear that his exposed point of view may corrupt the youth living in the vault, “They'll want to leave. What happens to the Vault if we lose the best of a generation? What if we are the only safe place in the world? You just gave us back all these lives... I can't take the chance of losing them. I've made a lot of tough decisions since I took this position. But none of them harder than this one. You saved us, but you'll kill us. I'm sorry. You're a hero... and you have to leave.” (Fallout) Similar to the section, “...At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains: the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows…” (Plato)
Correlation. Plato addresses themes that are still relevant to this day, only we see this more readily in people who dismiss scientific discovery and reason for religious purposes. I also believe that this will be an issue that won’t be going away for a very long time, as denial is part of human nature. Take for example, in a debate between Ken Ham and Bill Nye, Bill states the following, “If anybody makes a discovery, that changes the way people view natural law, scientists embrace him or her. This person is fantastic, Louis Pasteur, in reference to germs. No, if you find something that changes or disagrees with the common thought, that’s the greatest thing going in science.” (Bill Nye debates Ken Ham) He has a very different ideology when it comes to perceiving the world as we know it, he like many open minded people are more willing to accept change in our world as opposed to those who are taught tin the same subject matter, yielding different and possibly untrue results.
CONCLUSION
In regards to the question: How does the allegory of the prisoners watching the shadows relate to us today? We can say that things like curiosity, doubt, stubbornness, open-mindedness, and access to information all play factors in how we perceive our world and where we stand in this cave. I believe that denial and unwillingness to accept change will still be a problem in our society, for a long time at least, before the future generation might be able to be more open to the understanding of this physical and measurable world.
Works Cited
“The Allegory of the Cave.” Plato's the Republic, by Plato, The Modern Library, 1966.
Fallout. Windows PC version, Interplay Entertainment, Black Isle Studios, 1997.
"Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham". Http://Debatelive.Org, 2014,