Plato, one of the great philosophers of ancient Greece, devised an intricate allegory meant to explain the complex process of understanding. His Allegory of the Cave was a thoughtful metaphor for the pursuit of knowledge, the quest of the philosopher. In this allegory, humanity is tied to poles with our heads tied in way to keep us permanently staring a wall in front of us. We cannot move our heads, and all we see is a result of the shadows cast on the wall by the fire behind us. The fire is maintained by workers who walk on a pathway that lies between us and the fire. Thus most of the shadows cast by the fire are actually just the shadows of these workers. The shadows are our initial preconceptions. Eventually, someone (typically a philosopher or teacher) frees us from our bonds and forces us to look back. After we adjust our eyes, we can see the entire cave: the fire, the walkway with the workers, the other prisoners, and even the shadows. The fire is the source of light inside the cave, the light that causes us to see the shadows and also causes us to polarize into light and dark, good and bad. Inside the cave are only artificial light and harsh surroundings. Beyond the fire is an exit from the cave, and the role of your mentor is to push, drag, and/or lead you out of the cave. Coming out can be very painful, and you will want to turn back, but the mentor must be there when u want to turn back. When you finally reach the outside world, you are blinded by the light or immense knowledge. Eventually you can see shapes or the basics, and slowly you can see more and more of the ground and your surroundings. Lastly, you’ll be able to see yourself in the reflection of a pond, but you still won’t be able to look up to the sky and see the sun or the source. The outside world is the true world as lighted by the sun or the source of knowledge. Once one can see the sun, or the source of knowledge, that person is truly enlightened; however the journey has only just begun. For Plato, once you are enlightened or know the truth, you must go back into the cave and try to show as many “prisoners” as possible the truth.
Most of humanity is not actually stuck to seeing just shadows. I believe that the majority of humanity is held inside the cave by the fire and the workers of the fire. We’re free to walk around and interact, but we are not free to exit the cave. In fact, it is quite possible that no one has left the cave in a long, long time. The fire creates a dualistic complex of light and dark, fire and shadows, good and bad, black and white. Thus, in the cave, we see only black, white, and shades of grey. We know nothing of color, and thus our perceptions of the world are completely skewed. It is very difficult to make it past the fire and the workers, let alone make it out of the cave and into the real world outside. Knowledge is a powerful thing, but it is very overwhelming at first. The journey would be easier if there was a mentor to lead us, but there are very few, if any, who have experienced the outside world. Thus, we must turn to the past for guidance, we must turn to the myths as our mentors.
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