THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE ACTIVITY
Activity:
As a young person and a
student, how would you share the light of wisdom to someone who remains in the
darkness of ignorance? How is the Allegory of the Cave by Plato related to our
country’s current condition? Explain and provide a brief solution to the
dilemma.
One of the most difficult
things we as humans can accomplish is to spread the light of wisdom to someone
who chooses to remain in the darkness of ignorance. It is not easy to shed
light to someone whose eyes and ears are closed to the information we are
presenting to them. Despite this challenge, we must persevere in bringing them
out of the shadows. We need to emulate the freed prisoner from Plato's Allegory
of the Cave, who continued to educate the other prisoners despite being
ridiculed for what he shared with them. The kind of determination and patience
that the freed prisoner possesses in order to enlighten others is what we need
to develop in order to put an end to the growing number of individuals in our
country who have been and will be victimized by the spread of disinformation
and misinformation. The first way I can think of for successfully sharing the
light of wisdom with those who are in the darkness of ignorance is to approach
them and carefully listen to their views and the reasons behind those beliefs. Once
I determine that they are on the wrong side of the truth, I will attempt to
establish a peaceful discourse with them and offer them verifiable facts from
credible and reliable sources. If they accept the information I offer them,
then I will stop right there; if not, then I will just keep giving them
accurate information. I will never cease sharing the light of wisdom with them
because being in the darkness of ignorance will not help them progress.