Western Civ 2/12 - plato's allegory of the cave

Today in class we read a couple scenes from Allegory of the Cave by Plato. To sum it up, there are these prisoners who live all of their lives living one way, and when they are taken out they do not like the change. It causes them so much pain to the point that it seems counter-intuitive. They don't accept the change and want to kill the person who forced them into the change.

        This compares to real life a couple ways. Some people just don't like change. If you think about it, we grow up all our lives living a routine school day, preparing to live a routine work day. If you were to change that routine work day, or try to tell them to change, they likely would not. It is all we know how to do, what we were trained to do, and if we do try to go on a vacation or take off work for an extended amount of time, you fall out of the routine and have to re-learn it. You could say the painful part is like an addiction. I have never experienced this personally but have been around people who have. Addiction is similar, because you think you're doing this great thing, it is making you feel good, but really there is better. This is like when the prisoners are in the cave, living the life they grew up with. The path to recovery is like when the prisoners are dragged out of the cave. Withdraw painful, but really the change is worth it in the end.

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