Plato’s Allegory of the cave represents the process of education and learning in that the cave is childhood ignorance and time spent in the education system, while the outside world is the rest of life, in which one must learn to understand the world independently through experience. During childhood, we are taught a specific story by our parents and teachers, learning only what they display on the wall. Once we are freed from this state, we can learn on our own, day by day, exploring a whole new world of ideas and experiences that we couldn’t understand before. We lose the shelter of the cave, but once we’ve been exposed to the vast depth of the real world we cannot to go back to ignorance, nor do we want to. The life we’ve found above-ground
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This can be applied to life and learning in the sense that kids see many adults as ignorant in their own right, having lost the imagination, creativity, and sense of wonder that make the world look so exciting during childhood. Socrates considers that, “...would they not let him know that he had gone up but only in order to come back down into the cave with his eyes ruined-- and thus it certainly does not pay to go up” (5). The people in the cave see the escapee as blind, just as children see adults as somewhat ruined by the seriousness of life outside the shelter of home and school. Thus, like the prisoners in the cave, they conclude that growing up is a bad thing and resolve to stay kids for as long as they can. Of course, they can’t remain chained up forever, but they regard adulthood as something unpleasant because they haven’t yet glimpsed the beauty of creating their own identity and discovering new things for themselves. All they see is that adults lose a way of thinking that kids cherish and wish to hold onto. Only freedom will show them that the outside world is where they will truly find …show more content…
Like the prisoners, children live in a sheltered, controlled, and relatively two-dimensional world. After leaving the education system and adjusting to the strangeness of adulthood, just as the escapee in the allegory lets his eyes contract, they are finally able to see the world in full and create their own beliefs as they learn and grow. Finally, similar to the prisoner who returns to the cave only to be blinded and ridiculed, adults find that they have become slightly disconnected from their younger counterparts. However, though we shouldn’t forget childhood, the three-dimensionality and freedom of individual expression we gain upon stepping out from under the wing of parents and teachers is something to be cherished. Certainly a life of color and depth under the sun, despite its challenges, is more beautiful than one of shadow puppets on a cold cavern
This can be applied to life and learning in the sense that kids see many adults as ignorant in their own right, having lost the imagination, creativity, and sense of wonder that make the world look so exciting during childhood. Socrates considers that, “...would they not let him know that he had gone up but only in order to come back down into the cave with his eyes ruined-- and thus it certainly does not pay to go up” (5). The people in the cave see the escapee as blind, just as children see adults as somewhat ruined by the seriousness of life outside the shelter of home and school. Thus, like the prisoners in the cave, they conclude that growing up is a bad thing and resolve to stay kids for as long as they can. Of course, they can’t remain chained up forever, but they regard adulthood as something unpleasant because they haven’t yet glimpsed the beauty of creating their own identity and discovering new things for themselves. All they see is that adults lose a way of thinking that kids cherish and wish to hold onto. Only freedom will show them that the outside world is where they will truly find …show more content…
Like the prisoners, children live in a sheltered, controlled, and relatively two-dimensional world. After leaving the education system and adjusting to the strangeness of adulthood, just as the escapee in the allegory lets his eyes contract, they are finally able to see the world in full and create their own beliefs as they learn and grow. Finally, similar to the prisoner who returns to the cave only to be blinded and ridiculed, adults find that they have become slightly disconnected from their younger counterparts. However, though we shouldn’t forget childhood, the three-dimensionality and freedom of individual expression we gain upon stepping out from under the wing of parents and teachers is something to be cherished. Certainly a life of color and depth under the sun, despite its challenges, is more beautiful than one of shadow puppets on a cold cavern