The Unquestionable Knowledge of Knowing Nothing
The father of western philosophy, Socrates, once said that “to know, is to know that you know nothing; that is the meaning of true knowledge.” Socrates is world renown for creating a system of questioning, to always have doubt of what one perceives as the truth, in order to find the ideal or perfect truth. By asking such queries, one is able to educate himself by exposing the flaws of the world around him. This importance to educate oneself in order to strive for true reality is exemplified in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” with the unchained prisoner and the Wachowskis’ The Matrix with the primary character Neo. In both storylines, the authors display through their characters that when an individual …show more content…
In this analysis of the prisoner’s thoughts, the released prisoner is extremely confused, since the reality which he knew his entire life is now false. It is painful for him to accept that everything he knows, or believes he knows, is incorrect, and it is that precise realization that he knows nothing that over time, ultimately brings him closer to the truth. The prisoner, understandably, would be inclined to return to his former life, and to live in the comfort of the lies that surround him the dark cave; however, after the pain of the light - or of being enlightened of the truth - has passed, the prisoner cannot unsee reality. Once he enlightens himself of the world outside of the cave, he cannot go back to darkness, to the shadows that restricted his ability to see the world clearly. Likewise in The Matrix, Neo lives in a world he thinks is real, metaphorically chained to his office in a sterile building which permits him to see nothing but blank white walls and desks overloaded with paper. The sterile office building is Neo’s cave, where he is stuck in his fake world governed by people restricting his innate curiosity of what is …show more content…
When the freed prisoner goes back to the cave to share his euphoria of his knowledge of reality, the others rejected this notion. They threaten to kill him if he dares to unshackled them from their chains. Not only is it a difficult journey to the discovery of reality for the prisoner, but an even more difficult journey back to attempt to educate others. However, the freed prisoner is compelled “to fight in courts of law… about the images or the shadows of images of justice, and [endeavors] to meet the conceptions of those who have never yet seen absolute justice” (Plato 8-10). According to Plato, those who are most educated should be the leaders of the society. Therefore, it is the duty of the enlightened to educate the ignorant, and in order to do so, the educated must battle for the truth to overcome artificial rulers, and to essentially lead themselves. Parallely, Neo displays this battle, much like the freed prisoner, once he realizes his immense power. Morpheus, Neo’s mentor, is captured by the agents so that they can destroy their rebellion against the machines once and for all. Neo makes a decision in order to go back into the matrix with the aid of Trinity, another member in the rebellion, and save
The father of western philosophy, Socrates, once said that “to know, is to know that you know nothing; that is the meaning of true knowledge.” Socrates is world renown for creating a system of questioning, to always have doubt of what one perceives as the truth, in order to find the ideal or perfect truth. By asking such queries, one is able to educate himself by exposing the flaws of the world around him. This importance to educate oneself in order to strive for true reality is exemplified in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” with the unchained prisoner and the Wachowskis’ The Matrix with the primary character Neo. In both storylines, the authors display through their characters that when an individual …show more content…
In this analysis of the prisoner’s thoughts, the released prisoner is extremely confused, since the reality which he knew his entire life is now false. It is painful for him to accept that everything he knows, or believes he knows, is incorrect, and it is that precise realization that he knows nothing that over time, ultimately brings him closer to the truth. The prisoner, understandably, would be inclined to return to his former life, and to live in the comfort of the lies that surround him the dark cave; however, after the pain of the light - or of being enlightened of the truth - has passed, the prisoner cannot unsee reality. Once he enlightens himself of the world outside of the cave, he cannot go back to darkness, to the shadows that restricted his ability to see the world clearly. Likewise in The Matrix, Neo lives in a world he thinks is real, metaphorically chained to his office in a sterile building which permits him to see nothing but blank white walls and desks overloaded with paper. The sterile office building is Neo’s cave, where he is stuck in his fake world governed by people restricting his innate curiosity of what is …show more content…
When the freed prisoner goes back to the cave to share his euphoria of his knowledge of reality, the others rejected this notion. They threaten to kill him if he dares to unshackled them from their chains. Not only is it a difficult journey to the discovery of reality for the prisoner, but an even more difficult journey back to attempt to educate others. However, the freed prisoner is compelled “to fight in courts of law… about the images or the shadows of images of justice, and [endeavors] to meet the conceptions of those who have never yet seen absolute justice” (Plato 8-10). According to Plato, those who are most educated should be the leaders of the society. Therefore, it is the duty of the enlightened to educate the ignorant, and in order to do so, the educated must battle for the truth to overcome artificial rulers, and to essentially lead themselves. Parallely, Neo displays this battle, much like the freed prisoner, once he realizes his immense power. Morpheus, Neo’s mentor, is captured by the agents so that they can destroy their rebellion against the machines once and for all. Neo makes a decision in order to go back into the matrix with the aid of Trinity, another member in the rebellion, and save