In “The Allegory of the Cave,” an important distinction is made between two types of people, people who are blissfully ignorant and people who are painfully enlightened. The people who are blissfully ignorant choose to see things as they think they are; they mistake appearance for reality. These are the people who remain shackled to the wall, are unable to move their legs or heads, and, “see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another” (Plato 587). These people remain in the darkness, refuse to suffer by becoming knowledgeable, and enjoy their blissful state. Conversely, those people who are painfully enlightened see things as they are; they do not mistake appearance for reality, rather, they see reality as it is. These are the people
