Transcript
Plato's Allegory of the Cave: Formal Written Response
In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, he explains the world where prisoners live confined in a cave and look at shadows that compose reality for them. One of the prisoners breaks free and sees the outside world. At first, he is blinded by the sun and uncertain about the new world. The shadows in the cave were the most real things he knew. After he has spent some time in this new world, he realizes that his whole life has been checked by shadows but now knows the truth. Even hundreds of years later this allegory is relevant to modern life. Some of us experience our thoughts and ideas to be constructed by others in society. With modern ways of communications, it’s easier to get information across that could affect us. We are given a path that’s is recommended for everyone to take and usually don't think to find another.
Plato’s Allegory plays as a great parallel to modern life. The prisoners could represent citizens, and the shadows represent internet and television. Some people search the web and listen to whatever is mentioned on television and often time believe what is said without question. Online, anyone could find information on any topic they choose but just because it’s online doesn’t mean it’s true. Not everyone cares to look at the source of the information provided and are often mislead to believe false things. On television, there’s commercials, shows, movies, and the news. The goal of every commercial is to make their product or offer seem good and worth paying for. Already they’re trying to manipulate what we think is right or wrong. On shows and movies, several ideas and situations are presented for the characters to solve. Often, viewers will interpret the actions they see to be either acceptable, normal, or unordinary and apply it to their own lives. Especially talk shows that strongly support certain sides to situations. The goal of a talk show host to deliver their opinions to the audience in an understanding and compelling way that it could increase their circle and support. On the news, daily events are discussed and comments are made but what I've noticed is that numerous opinions are shared. There's nothing wrong with sharing opinions but when presented on the news it could persuade the public to believe that it is something that's happening. It's little things like this that surprisingly change our views, ideas, and life since we are like the prisoners who cannot turn their head away from what we are seeing because we're consuming everything and don't think to look away.
In society, teens are constructed to believe what’s the right path to take in life and if you’re not following that path then you won’t live a successful life. Some examples of steps that are given to teens are “pick a job that’s realistic,” “go to college because if you don’t then you won’t find a good job,” and “take both the SAT and ACT.” These are all ideas that have been presented to myself and about every student in the United States. It’s often said by parents who say it without thinking because they also believe it’s what should be done. I’m sure there are several parents out there that if you question why we should do these things they’ll just say something along the lines of “it’s the safest thing to do.” But in reality, we’ve seen several students succeed without going to college, people who excelled at a career they dreamed of having, and less emphasis on the importance of SAT and ACT. If we all take the same path as everyone else then we will be stuck making decisions we didn’t want to make and stuck living the “safe” life. We are educated enough to decide to turn away from expectations and take out own path.
Comparing us with the prisoners in the cave, I found out that some of us are subject to the social patterns we live. From online and on television, we are taught and encouraged certain ideas that affect our views and plans. Sometimes, it seems like we have our own knowledge of the life, but a lot of what we think is determined and traditional. We need to leave the cave or turn our heads to experience life outside what we are told like the prisoner. Others may be fearful to leave the cave because they are unsure what will result from it but living life the safe route shouldn't be considered living to your potential. However, this does not mean that we should try to make foolish actions just because it's different. We need to enter a bigger world with actual reality and, hopefully, others will begin to take their own paths too.
