The myth of Plato’s cave allowed us to understand how the philosopher perceived the world. The relationship between the physical world and the world of ideas gives rise to a reality full of lights and shadows. On the one hand, we have reality as it is. On the other hand, we find a fiction where our beliefs and dreams take on a predominant role. But before we go deeper into all this, what does the cave myth say?
According to Plato’s story, there was a group of people who lived in a large cave from birth, arms, legs and neck chained, forcing them to look alone at the wall of this cave, never left and could not even look. To find out the origin of the chains that bound them, however, behind them was a wall and a fire a little further, between the wall and the fire, the men carried objects that kept coming out of the walls of the cave. fire, the chained men could see them thrown against the wall.
- I have seen images that were lies and false realities.
- But how could I imagine all this.
- When since childhood it was the only reality I had seen?.
Men had only seen the projections since they were born, so they had no need or curiosity to turn around and see what produced these shadows. But it was a deceptive artificial reality; for them, the projections were the reality itself, yet one of them dared to turn around and observe what was going on.
At first I was confused and all irritated, especially that light I saw at the bottom of the cave (the fire). Then he began to suspect. I thought shadows were the only thing that existed, when it really wasn’t. Every time he moved forward, doubts proved him with the possibility of returning to his shadows.
However, with patience and effort, he moved on, gradually getting used to what was so unknown, without feeling overwhelmed by confusion or falling into the vagaries of fear, he left the cave, of course, when he returned to tell it. his companions what he had seen, was received with suspicion: a contempt that reflected the disbelief of the inhabitants of the caverns for what the adventurer had told them.
It is curious to see how current this vision that the cave myth offers us, we all follow a pattern of thought, and if we dare to think differently, we begin to judge and criticize ourselves, we create all our absolute truths non-stop. question them, without wondering if the world is really as we imagined.
For example, the belief that error is a failure can lead us to abandon any project in the first setback, however, if we do not get carried away by this idea, we will cultivate our curiosity and error will no longer be a full demon. In this way, the change of perspective will not only make us stop being afraid, but when we make mistakes, we will be ready to learn from them.
The man who, in the myth of Plato’s cave, decides to free himself from the chains that imprison him, makes a very difficult decision, which far from being appreciated by his companions, is understood by them as an act of rebellion. it wasn’t well-seen and that could discourage him. When he decides to move on, he walks alone along the road, overcoming the wall, descending into the fire that makes him so suspicious and at the same time fascinates him, doubts assault him and he no longer knows what is real and what is not.
We must get rid of old beliefs: ideas that are not only rooted, but in turn, are the basis of the tree of our beliefs, but as we headed towards the exit of the cave, we realized that everything we thought was not entirely true, and now?What’s left? Convince those who deprive themselves of the freedom that they can also be free if they decide to break with the apparent comfort in which they live.
The myth of caves symbolizes ignorance as a reality that becomes uncomfortable when we begin to realize its presence. Faced with the slightest chance of another possible worldview, history tells us that our inertia impels us to overthrow it, seeing it as a threat to the established order. People become stagnant with pre-established ideas and do not seek rational meaning for certain things, avoiding the “difficulty” of thinking and thinking.
The shadows are no longer cast, the light is no longer artificial and the air touches my face.
Perhaps, because of our human condition, we cannot do without this world of shadows, but we can strive to make these shadows ever clearer. Perhaps the perfect and iconic world of ideas is a utopia for our nature, but that is not the case. means it’s better to give up our curiosity than to stay in our comfort zone.
Growing up, doubts, inconsistencies, questions help us remove those banners that often prevent us from seeing reality as it is.