Allegory of the cave

¶ … allegory of the cave in Plato's Republic. The allegory makes a point about the majority of people living in the dark, in the absence of somebody who could lead them towards the light, whereas light can be associated with knowledge and the spiritual, while the dark is to be associated with the material.

I agree with Plato when he states that most people are living in the dark and that they mistake illusions for reality. There is more than one way to interpret this. most people who are living in ignorance have no idea that there could be more in this world than they know. Otherwise they could choose to stop being ignorant and learn more. The people in the cave are chained, thus they can not see the fire and the objects which create the shadows. In the hypothesis in which they could, it is safe to assume that they would want to escape from the chains. Ignorance is in this case synonymous with lack of freedom. Consequently knowledge becomes a factor of utmost importance for achieving freedom. It is enough to observe the world around us to see that the people in control of information have enough power to chain the others in a metaphorical way, manipulating them according to their own best interests.

But if you are chained by ignorance, what can help you set yourself free? Or is this something that an external agent can do? The truth is that someone might break the chains of slavery for an individual, but this does not necessarily mean that he will also get out of the cave ( not all people are strong enough to handle the light of the sun). As far as those people who wish to be set free are concerned, I think that they need somebody to help them with some guidance. After that, it all depends on themselves. The helper can be considered to be superior because he knows more and can move more than the person whom he helps. However, once the enchained individual is set free, we could assume that realizing his own potential could make him wiser than the person who originally helped him.

Another interesting idea that Plato introduces through the allegory of the cave states that all of us can become "superior" through a process of training which evolves a lot of effort and dedication. I agree to the fact that all people can overcome their own condition if they will it and they submit themselves to a process of hard work oriented in this direction. However, I believe that not all people are endowed with the same capacities and talents. Therefore, regardless the hardship of the training process or its efficiency in terms of progress, it is impossible to have a world of all "superior" people at the end.

On the one hand, there is always room for more, regardless of the high state of knowledge and wisdom one has achieved. Can we really conceive a person who has accomplished all of his potential ? What percentage of the brain do people use? On the other hand, since the process of self development is heavily based on one's will, can we really state that all people will to develop themselves under the circumstances in which the process involves self knowledge and pushing one's limits (in other words, it is painful).