Allegory of the Cave Essay
5/12/12
The Allegory of the Cave This world has seen many ideas come, and many ideas go. Some ideas have been very beneficial and have stuck with society, such as Alexander Belle Grahams invention of the telephone. Others have not been so successful and have proved to be a pointless invention, such as the snuggie. Some would think that the ideas of a man who lived thousands of years ago would not still apply to the world today, but those people would be wrong. The ideas that Plato presents about mankind and society in The Allegory of the Cave are still thriving in today’s society. If a person from the time period The Allegory of the Cave is set in were to visit the world today they would not know what planet they were on. This world is so consumed and driven by technology that someone from a thousand years ago, even a hundred years ago, would not recognize it. People are consumed by technology and it is a huge factor in the lives of many. It is safe to say that people are obsessed with it. Although the people from back then would not recognize the technology used today, they would recognize the way in which it is used. People turn to the news, newspapers, and the internet when they want to know what is going on with society. Those are very powerful tools because whoever controls what is said in them, controls what society thinks. That can be a very dangerous thing. All too often misleading people are in control of what society is told. The media that is used could be thought of as a façade, keeping society from the truth. Plato touches on this in his story. He talks about how there are people that have been living in darkness, unaware of the world that is beyond the cave. They are fooled by the shadow they see of a man. The shadow makes the man look a lot larger than he actually is and they think he is a god. This can compare with society today and how fooled they are. They see what is presented on the news media as the truth, the shadow, but really it is a
The Allegory of the Cave This world has seen many ideas come, and many ideas go. Some ideas have been very beneficial and have stuck with society, such as Alexander Belle Grahams invention of the telephone. Others have not been so successful and have proved to be a pointless invention, such as the snuggie. Some would think that the ideas of a man who lived thousands of years ago would not still apply to the world today, but those people would be wrong. The ideas that Plato presents about mankind and society in The Allegory of the Cave are still thriving in today’s society. If a person from the time period The Allegory of the Cave is set in were to visit the world today they would not know what planet they were on. This world is so consumed and driven by technology that someone from a thousand years ago, even a hundred years ago, would not recognize it. People are consumed by technology and it is a huge factor in the lives of many. It is safe to say that people are obsessed with it. Although the people from back then would not recognize the technology used today, they would recognize the way in which it is used. People turn to the news, newspapers, and the internet when they want to know what is going on with society. Those are very powerful tools because whoever controls what is said in them, controls what society thinks. That can be a very dangerous thing. All too often misleading people are in control of what society is told. The media that is used could be thought of as a façade, keeping society from the truth. Plato touches on this in his story. He talks about how there are people that have been living in darkness, unaware of the world that is beyond the cave. They are fooled by the shadow they see of a man. The shadow makes the man look a lot larger than he actually is and they think he is a god. This can compare with society today and how fooled they are. They see what is presented on the news media as the truth, the shadow, but really it is a
Cited: Plato. The Allegory of the Cave. Print.