Plato’s Allegory of the Cave - Alex Gendler

I love how everyone feels that they are the ones that have escaped the cave when they hear about this allegory.

This video hits different if you have to watch it for academic reasons...

Maybe you can actually escape the cave, but there's just a bigger one outside.

“Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.” ~ Plato

"Most people are not just comfortable in their ignorance but hostile to anyone who points it out." very will said. Thanks you. 

“Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness”

Jim Carrey's the truman show reminded me of this concept of plato's allegory of the cave between a comfortable illusion and a challenging yet fulfilling reality.

I feel bad for people watching this for academic reasons. It's an interesting concept, but when it's academically required, its true charm is suddenly removed and people don't get to actually "learn" about it. When academics require it, people absorb the bare minimum to get it over with and it's such a shame.

The first time I ever interacted with Plato's Allegory of the Cave was in my 9th grade English class when we read Flowers for Algernon. It was a very meaningful experience for me as one of the many interpretations put forward by my teacher ( whom I adore to this day) was: "would you rather be a happy simpleton and live a life of blissful ignorance of the world around you, or be a miserable intellectual who is enlightened to the true nature of the world but rejected by the rest of society?"

The thing is no one knows who is actually out of the cave...

The "sad" thing is, that most people LIKE living in the cave. It's safe, and secure, and you don't really need to think past the basic idea that I am watching shadows. Most people don't like the feeling of drastic change that impacts their life. No one likes feeling unprotected.

The fact that everyone thinks that they're the ones who have escaped the cave, shows you that we're all still in that cave

Damn I want to be a philosopher but I cant think of anything

"It's easier to fool people then to convince them they have been fooled" - Mark Twain

Dude: Escapes Cave and goes straight to looking at the Sun What we have here is a genius

Reading through “The Allegory of the Cave” had me, like most people thinking about how in society, we may all still be chained within a cave, forced to stare at the wall, shrouded in shadows. Never knowing what went on outside of the cave, never considering that their may in fact be, more than the wall, more than the cave. But, striving to be different, as most of us do, I tried to extract a unique meaning from his allegory. – Here is my take on the allegory of the cave: Plato may have meant that you cannot and will not be able to live through the eyes of another, as to say their experiences shape them, but they cannot shape you – Reality is subjective, not objective.

when all the comments provide examples of possible thesis statements for your final paper... thanks guys :D

I feel like the fact that we're even contemplating this in the first place, really shows how special humans are.

I learned about this Allegory back in middle school 20+ years ago and I still think about it. Such profound thinking that explains so much

These comments full of wisdom I almost discover the purpose of life.