The Man in the Cave
l3wis Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, from The Republic, describes prisoners chained in a cave since birth, seeing only shadows of puppets cast on a wall, mistaking these shadows for ultimate reality. One prisoner escapes, sees the real world, understands the sun (representing the Form of the Good) as the source of all truth, and realizes shadows are mere copies; he then returns to enlighten the others, but is met with disbelief and hostility, symbolizing the philosopher’s difficult role in leading humanity from ignorance (the cave) to true knowledge (the Forms).
This farmer explains the Echo Chamber in political talk radio, mostly right-wing, by bringing up Plato’s story about the man in the cave, he really goes into detail, you can watch more of his videos here. I call him the Phamily Pharm Philosopher.
Strangely enough this video about the isolation of North Korea is like an entire country living in a cave. The most astonishing part is after a foreign volunteer surgeon repairs the vision of 1,000 patients in 10 days (cataract surgery) and they don’t thank him, they get on their knees and praise a photo of their leader. Reminded me of a MAGA rally.
I think if we continue down the path we are on in the United States, we will all be living in caves eventually.
