The Allegory of the Cave and How Our Perception of Reality Changes Everything...

in mindset •  6 years ago 

In the seventh part of the Republic, Plato explains to us the nature of existence and our perception of reality using the Allegory of the Cave. Plato uses this argument to bring into notice the importance of purity and idealism, but if we take a closer look, we can use Plato’s Cave as an analogy of the struggles of mankind in their everyday life.
The Allegory of the Cave describes, in essence, the lives of a bunch of people that are forever chained in a cave looking at a blank wall. The fire behind them reflects the shadows of the outside world on the wall, thus giving those people a sense of perception of the existence that they are living. These shadows are the reality of these prisoners. In this allegory, the fire represents a misguided attempt at understanding the real sun, which is in Plato’s words, ‘the fire that men cannot see behind.’


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In this scenario, a philosopher is a person who frees himself from the shackles that kept him from perceiving the world as he should. He goes out and sees the world, but even the philosopher cannot fully comprehend the reality of the objects as they are. Rather, he might find convenience in their shadows that are reflected on the ground or any other surface. The philosopher eventually goes back to the cave to explain to his friends the true nature of reality beyond their mistaken and imperfect vision. Plato explains that in this phase, the prisoners react with aggression, holding to their perception of the world as they have known it all their lives.
This allegory is an indication that our interpretation of the reality is always bound to our senses, even though they cannot really be trusted. Even when these interpretations are an ill-formed idea of the true nature of things, we find ourselves bound to them, since we have lived our life under their shadow. You see, for a person who has lived their entire life in a cave of illusions, those reflections are more real than the reality that can be touched or felt in any other way. For that person, the brightness of the fire from their back is always more convenient than the idea of a greater source of light that is yet beyond their boundaries of comprehension.


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But imagine that a person miraculously escapes the cave and comes across a world he cannot even remotely fathom. Indeed, that person knows what a ‘tree’ is, but he has never had a chance of actually getting to know the tree on a more profound sense. He has never had the chance of actually looking at it, of seeing the true shape of the tree, of perceiving the colors that dance in an eternal rhythm, of listening to the breeze as it moves the branches about. In other words, this person enters a new ‘realm’ of possibilities that was incomprehensible to him before his escape from a cave of his illusions.
And when we really think about it, that is the problem with many of us today. We resist against the idea of going after our dreams or getting out of our comfort zone because we are bound by our perceptions of how reality is. Our stubbornness dissuades us from going beyond the realm of our comprehension to begin to see a whole new world of possibilities. Our ignorance reduces our imagination to the reflections that we have lived with our entire life. The reflections on a wall that speak of a much more pure and ideal truth, but trick us into coming to terms with them and accepting them as our reality.


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To consider the fact that nothing is ever really ‘impossible’ and the only limit in front of our eyes is the horizon of our imagination, we take the first step of breaking the chains that are holding us back in our caves.
Shatter the chains, let go of your illusive reflections, and begin to see a world that only moves you towards the great things that you have always dreamt of.

Remember Community: Please, if you commented on a new post I did, please always go back to the previous one because if someone in the community commented lastly because of time zone differences it will be without your upvote and that would not be fair.

My goal is to see you all with 80 upvotes and for this we need to bring more people with positive Mindset to this blog and this you can do by inviting people who follow you on your blogs and making a subtract of all posts.

You all know the goal we can reach.

The question is: Who is with me in this endeavor?

A BIG HUG!!!

@chbartist

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This post has received a 20.00% upvote from @jmiller05!

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Nothing is impossible.
This is not just a phrase or sentence of three words. If we want to be successful or achieve something then we have to maintain an attitude like this line. It is only possible to achieve goals or Target if we have courage to break the chain of negative thoughts. If we are always think negative about some work then we don't get success.

In order to to something we have to be courgious enough to break our negative thinking. If we are able to do this then we can achieve everything.

Lastly I would like to say that your work is commandable. We are going to see 50 votes on every comment. Which is the sign of positivity.

Regards
@ajks

The world of cryptocurrencies has been completely foreign to me ... steemit is the tree in my life ... I explore it and I'm getting to know it ... I do not know any other way ... because for me this world of cryptocurrencies has been something that I did not think it was real or that it was a good thing ... however, I am exploring and I want to learn more ... I do not want to stay in the cave with what I already know ... I want to know more ... learn more. .. understand more ... and grow more in this new world for me ...

For me to even get a grasp of whats going on and what can possibly happen you have to forget everything you were ever taught and build yourself up anew from only the truth. The reason you breath, what is the universe, the power within you thats been hiden from your awareness this whole time. Never take anything for face value and always do your own research. If you're in Crypto and blockchain not to get rich but to help bring change than you're in the right mindset.

We should try to come out from the cave, understand the reality of life and help each other bring them to the light of hope and win in the battle of struggle. I'm here with you my friend. thanks.

@chbartist sir!
Unless we live in the cave of conventional traditions and neoclassical ideology, I do not know the real information of the world when we put out the negative ideology of our conservative traditions, the world is very spacious, it looks better. . We are stranded in our own hands, where we rarely strive to get out. By breaking this paradigm, if we get out, we find that the world is far better than what we think.I am with you in this endeavor.regards

Sir you always come with new ideas and thoughts, this is why I like you. Upvoted and resteemd

@chbartist, you sound so real in your expression of encouragement, i draw my daily motivations from you. Thank you. Pray for long 4 you so that we could be hearing more from you. A true philosopher to the last you are.

The group of people who even think about truth is so small. It seems our world is populated with followers of the archonic influencers. Much like Plato illustrated, It can be frustrating trying to share your experience with cave dwellers. In the USA, we have a great feast coming. Most should try to enjoy the tradition of fellowship and family gathering. Keep the tradition alive by enjoying it. Have fun and thank you for this post.

Cave symbolizes the conditioning of your mind, the training you had gone through, your experiences: defeats and victories, your philosophy of life

Light symbolizes the realities that govern the world. But because of many schemes and devices of man, It cast shadows of the realities of life in a pretentious way that the common man was blinded to see the truth. Though they might have seen the truth, it paralyzed them to break off from its system-chain.

This allegory explains to me that you should not come to conclusion and judge others without knowing the truth.
Don't be fooled by the shadows of realities.
And the first-hand experience makes you understand better the world you are living in.
If you were able to come out of the cave and have seen the light of truth, help others to come out of their caves and they might behold the real things.

Great comment friend, and don't give up of your dreams. Regards

I agree with you @chbartist ,nothing is impossible in this world. But it requires strong imagination and hard work. I'm here with you ,have a good day

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Yes, but we have every day to try to escape the small world we live and take time every minute to dream. Let's move on ...

never had the chance of actually looking at it, of seeing the true shape of the tree, of perceiving the colors that dance in an eternal rhythm, of listening to the breeze as it moves the branches about

After reading the above, I'm not sure if I've ever seen a tree the way you have described, next time, I will be sure to open my eyes (along with my heart and mind)

Do this, life is to be lived and we must fight for our dreams with intensity. Regards

Most definitely, I always try to approach life with that in mind, sometimes I just forget and get too caught up in my own head. Thankfully, there are posts such as yours, to remind me. Cheers

Very related and relevant to your breaking paradigms series as well! Not only things are not as they seem but things are not needed to do as society deems them. "Shatter the chains" is truly the path to happiness and fulfillment! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you friend for great comment again!

follow me

Everyone set a big dream for his life, someome get his dream life and someone fails so badly. They should be happy without any reason but they cannot survive most. Dream can be true but another way dream cannot be true always
.

I don't know if you read my posts about paradigms and others before this one.

If you read it go back and read it again because there is a lot of information that is intertwined with the sequence of posts I wrote.

Throughout life it is common to stop focusing or even give up on our dreams because neither our minds nor people forget to think about how to get rid of paradigms and find the way to dreams. Regards

I am with you bro @chbartist always...

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Thx

Finding new ground creates a sense of uncertainty,
People become so accustom to the comforts that surround them they often choose not to want to step out of the shadows. It can be applied to many situational circumstances. People are afraid of what they don't know, however stepping out of the shadows into an unfathomable world is what has got our civilization to where it is today. Hard to say who will be the next one out of the shadows, but I look forward to it.
Good read - BKP

This post has received a 15.00% upvote from @teevmoore!

This post has receive a 25.00% upvote.

Just we have to belive

el mundo es un gran misterio no?

You're so deep @chbartist..

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thank you for your good job, congratulations

We must take on new challenges daily! Explore the unexplored and live life to the fullest since nothing in this world is guaranteed. How will you ever know the outcome if you never try? I think one of the worst feelings is being limited. We are not meant to be trapped in a cave forced to live by the rules or however the next person tells you. Set yourself free and open up your mind. Expand you horizons and slowly but surely, you will start to see change. For the better of course!

This post has received a 62.54 % upvote from @boomerang.

Well interpreted

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Can I ask u upvote my posts & put comment under them ?20151228204741129a.jpg

Great read! #resteemed

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This is one of the most profound philosophical observations ever. I am a very new member, just feeling my way and getting used to things. Look forward to following you.

I am like that person who dares · "world-making powers"

Your post had been curated by the @buildawhale team and mentioned here:

https://steemit.com/curation/@buildawhale/buildawhale-curation-digest-11-20-18

Keep up the good work and original content, everyone appreciates it!

  ·  6 years ago Reveal Comment