Learning how we learn: Plato's cave 2014

Principles into Practice with Kain Ramsay

Here's a modern adaptation of a very old story .... And so, a conversation between two of the worlds greatest philosophers, Socrates and Glaucon went something like this .... Socrates: "Why do people think that Personal Development is meaningless? Let me put it this way - imagine you're in a cave, all chained up so you can't turn your body at all, and all you get to look at is this one wall. Some assholes behind you are making shadow puppets using the light from a fire and making echo noises and that's all you or anyone else chained up has seen or heard all your life." "Sounds terrible, right? Except it's all you've ever known, shadows and echoes, and that's your whole world - there's no way you could know that, really, you're watching a slightly-improved M. Night Shyamalan film." "In fact, you get pretty good at understanding how the patterns in the show work, and everyone else chained up is like, 'Holy Cow man, how did you know that that tree was going to fall on that guy?' and you'd say something like, 'It's because I bloomin' well pay attention and I'm pretty darned smart!' You're the smartest of the chained, and they all revere you." Glaucon: "But Socrates, a tree didn't really hit a guy. It's all shadows!" Socrates: "You're absolutely right Glaucon, but you wouldn't know that. You'd think that the shadows are real things. Everyone does. Now shut up and let me finish!" "So eventually, someone comes and unchains you and drags you out of the cave. At first you'd say, 'Seriously, what's going on here?!' Well, actually, at first you'd say, 'HOLY COW, MY EYES' and you'd want to go back to the safe, familiar shadows. But even once your eyes worked you wouldn't believe them, because everything you ever thought was real is gone. You'd look at a tree, and say 'That's not a tree. I know trees. And you, sir, are no tree. THAT DOWN THERE is a tree.' But you're wrong. Down there is a shadow of a tree. "Slowly, as your eyes got better, you'd see more and more real stuff. Eventually, you'd see the sun, and realize that it's the source of all light. You can't see nothing without the sun. And eventually, you'd figure it out. Something would click in your brain: 'Holy Pyjama's, that IS a tree. Well, Blow me over with a bag of potato's! So... nothing in the cave was real? I feel like such an asshole.' But it's not your fault, so don't be so hard on yourself! "Finally you'd want to go down and tell everyone about everything you've discovered. Except, and here's the hilarious part, they think you've gone absolutely crazy. You'd say, 'Guys, real trees on the outside of this cave are green!' and they'd say, 'What's green you CRAZYMAN? THAT's a tree over there on the cave wall!' And you'd squint and look at the wall, but you know you're unable to see properly now that you're back in the cave because you've seen real sunlight, and now you can't see anything. So they'd laugh at you, and agree that wherever it was that you went, no one should go there because it turns people into CRAZIES! Personal Development is kind of the same thing, and in order to grow and develop your confidence, you need to grow and develop as a person. As we grow and develop our understanding of who we truly are and the true nature of everything, we eventually grasp the Idea that Truth gives light to everything else and exposes what's real from what's not. If the person who's ben developing them-self has to go back to the cave and attempt to explain what they have seen to people who don't even know what Green is, they might end up feeling like they don't have as much in common with those people as what perhaps they once did. It wasn't the guy who went outside of the cave who invented the Truth though, it was always there, and the only way to really make sense of it is to uncover it for yourself. You can't force knowledge into a fool any more than you can force sight into a blind man. "So if you want to learn, be prepared for a difficult journey, and be prepared to make some mistakes. That's okay, it's all part of the process. True knowledge must be obtained the hard way, and some people just don't want to see the light." This isn't a new story by the way - it's been about for centuries!