The Cave: Imagine a group of prisoners, each of whom has had his head and body chained so they could look only ahead of them. The prisoners have been restrained like this all their lives, and the only home they have ever known is the dark expanse of the cave. Now imagine another addition: a large fire, burning nonchalantly behind the prisoners, so, as they look ahead of them, the prisoners see their own shadows, the ones resulting from the firelight. Between the fire and prisoners is a raised walkway along which all manner of creatures and people pass. So all the prisoners have ever seen are their distorted shadows and those of the walking creatures, and the resounding echoes of the sounds they make.
The Freed Prisoner: Imagine now, that one of the prisoners were to be unshackled and freed, let out of the dark cave. For a while, the prisoner accustoms to the blinding light and is then met with a surprise of earth-shattering caliber: another world! He finds trees, rivers, people and animals; an illuminated world, unlike anything he had witnessed before his release.
The Return: In his shock –and perhaps out of benevolence– the prisoner would return to the cave that housed him, bearing news of the magnificent world outside. Perhaps he would speak to his fellow prisoners, telling them of what he had seen. A second surprise now: the other prisoners would think their released friend mad! The coloured flying creatures he speaks of, the green trees he describes, the sun and the land, would seem ridiculous to them, preposterous! They would shun him for having lost his mind, ironically call him stupid, and, if he were to try to untie them, to free them as he was freed, perhaps they would try to kill him; for they would see his attempts as a threat, not only against them, but also everything they believe. To the prisoners in the cave, the world outside will never exist, but that doesn’t make it any less real. The world outside is there, and exists perfectly well.
Plato’s lesson: So what does Plato want to say here? This small story speaks volumes, particularly about our limited perception, and the only true way to learn. Our perception, limited by what we see and hear and perceive in living, will only teach us so much and provides an incomplete picture. It is then a difficult task, that of trying to uncover what truth there is in the world, what there is beyond the ‘shadows’ (the apparent, the trivial), and ‘to venture out of the cave’ (to learn the true nature of things). It is a process of continuous mistake-making, but you don’t learn any other way. You can’t force knowledge into anyone, just as you can’t force a mountain through a keyhole.
There is no greater calling than to break out of the prisons of the caves of the apparent, and to strive for greater understanding. Otherwise we forever remain prisoners. To think is to attempt to become free.
