An allegory of a reality
What is it that forces us forwards, drives us onwards, pushes us to succeed, stops us from sitting down and giving up on life.
It's like there's a wall of obstacles standing before me, and everyday I believe I'm chipping my way through it even though I don't appear to be moving. What is it I believe I'm going to find on the other side? Funny that in all my efforts and persistence, I'm left with no time to ponder the benefits of my perpetual toil. What is it I want to achieve exactly? What goal am I straining to reach? What prize for my pains? More bricks perhaps, ..a steep incline, a steady drop, .. Do I want to break through, and fall into the dark, plunge into obscurity. Is the greatest trick of all, allowing us the belief of freedom,..the pretence of free-will,..the unfullfillment of constant questioning,...our never-ending quest for knowledge, ......and the punchline is.. maybe we prefer the search, the endless hammering. We have created society and the constraints that go with it.
How can we ever know the answers,..for if we ever found them would we believe them. What makes truth other than a universal acceptance of fact. It is too easy to find fallacy to believe anything to be true in life. That's why I admire the optimist. Their job isn't easy, and many including myself claim their ignorance is their only virtue. Still better than those who contradict the opinions of others and offer no argument of their own. How can we ever believe anything? Can we trust our eyes (reliant on light), ...our senses? The universe could be contained in a giant, glass ball where we only see our reflection and we would never know....or we could all be chained in the cave, distracted by shadows, never experiencing eikasia..
What is Plato saying exactly? That when we finally open our eyes to the obvious, and step outside the cave we will at first be blinded by looking directly at the sun in seeking true knowledge but will eventually reach enlightenment. However, what is unfortunate is our way of seeing things will be so changed by the alteration in light, that though we will feel the need to pass this gift on to others they will not respond. For when you return to the cave and descend to their level
"returning from devine contemplations to the petty miseries of men",
you will be unable to relate to their ways of perception and thus will seem ignorant by their standards. You would be inferior at the ludicrous process of indentifying shadows that you know are mere reflections, ..ill-equipped to survive in the only reality these people have ever known, and this would make your "fellow prisoners" murderous towards anyone who attempted to free them. How can you free those who unknowingly wish to be enslaved, especially when your wisdom impedes your ability to relate to the people you wish to save.
It's like there's a wall of obstacles standing before me, and everyday I believe I'm chipping my way through it even though I don't appear to be moving. What is it I believe I'm going to find on the other side? Funny that in all my efforts and persistence, I'm left with no time to ponder the benefits of my perpetual toil. What is it I want to achieve exactly? What goal am I straining to reach? What prize for my pains? More bricks perhaps, ..a steep incline, a steady drop, .. Do I want to break through, and fall into the dark, plunge into obscurity. Is the greatest trick of all, allowing us the belief of freedom,..the pretence of free-will,..the unfullfillment of constant questioning,...our never-ending quest for knowledge, ......and the punchline is.. maybe we prefer the search, the endless hammering. We have created society and the constraints that go with it.
How can we ever know the answers,..for if we ever found them would we believe them. What makes truth other than a universal acceptance of fact. It is too easy to find fallacy to believe anything to be true in life. That's why I admire the optimist. Their job isn't easy, and many including myself claim their ignorance is their only virtue. Still better than those who contradict the opinions of others and offer no argument of their own. How can we ever believe anything? Can we trust our eyes (reliant on light), ...our senses? The universe could be contained in a giant, glass ball where we only see our reflection and we would never know....or we could all be chained in the cave, distracted by shadows, never experiencing eikasia..
What is Plato saying exactly? That when we finally open our eyes to the obvious, and step outside the cave we will at first be blinded by looking directly at the sun in seeking true knowledge but will eventually reach enlightenment. However, what is unfortunate is our way of seeing things will be so changed by the alteration in light, that though we will feel the need to pass this gift on to others they will not respond. For when you return to the cave and descend to their level
"returning from devine contemplations to the petty miseries of men",
you will be unable to relate to their ways of perception and thus will seem ignorant by their standards. You would be inferior at the ludicrous process of indentifying shadows that you know are mere reflections, ..ill-equipped to survive in the only reality these people have ever known, and this would make your "fellow prisoners" murderous towards anyone who attempted to free them. How can you free those who unknowingly wish to be enslaved, especially when your wisdom impedes your ability to relate to the people you wish to save.
posted by Random Inanity at Monday, March 06, 2006
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