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One connection between my education and Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" can be seen in the way in
which I apply things I have learned. For example, when I'm taking notes in my math class, I may be copying down the formula to a math equation, but I have not really learned that formula. It's just like the shadows emitted by the fire, the shadows are only half of what is actually being shown. Until I go home and apply these formulas to my work, I will not fully see the full image. Just like the prisoners of the cave, they will not see anything real until they leave the cave.

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"And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his
eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can
see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being
shown to him?" (pg. 3)

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In what ways do the prisoners of the cave embody the statement "ignorance is bliss"?

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I believe that this relates to my educational experience in the sense that through the past few years, I have become more careful in believing information (including the opinions of other people) as I observe the world around me. I believe that throughout high school, I have become less quick to blindly accept information that I am exposed to, and I have learned to question the concepts that I am learning before allowing myself to absorb them fully. Although it is not as grand as "ascending to the light", I believe that my experience has enabled me to become actively aware of how I perceive my reality, and in a sense, not being as gullible has made me wiser than I used to be.

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How can the ascension from the cave to the sun and the confusion upon returning be compared to the "bubbles" we grow up in?

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" This entire allegory, I said, you may now append, dear Glaucon, to the previous

argument; the prison-house is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun, and you will

not misapprehend me if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into

the intellectual world according to my poor belief, which, at your desire, I have expressed

whether rightly or wrongly God knows."

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What is the significance of returning to the cave and re-adjusting to be able to see in the darkeness again?

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The part where the prisoners left behind in the cave think the man who has seen the sun is a fool because he can no longer see the shadows honestly makes me think of some people I know and how they view religion. Through school, I was exposed to multiple religions, given the means to study them, and taught how to question the things I am taught. Some people need the structure of religion, and these people (not all religious people, of course, I'm just referring to a few who I know) see everything through the lens of their religion, but since that's not how the world can truly be perceived, it's like they're looking at shadows and accepting it as the only true reality. I've been told that pursuing higher education and spending time on philosophy and basically that considering other belief systems is a waste of time that will only put nonsense into my head, but I think that because my education gives me the means to step back and look at religion and the world separately and objectively, I feel like the man who saw the sun and began losing his ability to accept/see the shadows.

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"and then conceive some one saying to
him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to
being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision, -what will
be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as
they pass and requiring him to name them, -will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that
the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?"

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During my junior cross country season, which was my 1st season that I started on varsity, I experienced some pain in the muscle of my seat. Thinking that it was just minor and trying to get back to prepare for my 2nd race after rehabbing, I made my muscle worse by straining it. This forced me to miss out the race, which made me angry since I tried so hard to get out of my injury situation. This is similar to how the prisoners were trying to reach the light: they would be struggling. However, with determination and perseverance, the "light" helped me realize that I need to be patient and be careful of my body. In order to get back to my speed while trying not to hurt myself, I had to learn that I needed to rehab my strained muscle. This helped me not only heal my muscle, but become a much faster and stronger athlete than I thought I would have been.

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"Behold! human beings living in a underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been from their
childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen
which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets."(pg. 2)

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As IB students, we all have the privalege of seeing the world differently than most. We operate on different parts of our brains, analyzing things from many angles. In my experience, I have met friends, family, and even peers that seem to limit their potential by sticking with their old beliefs and ideals. I know this only because I am massively guilty of this myself. I find my self reluctant to try new things, being obstructed with the tried and tested ways of the past.

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What does the cave in the story symbolize overall, and how is it related with today's world?

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"Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists in
the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from darkness to light without
the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole
soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being, and learn by degrees to endure
the sight of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or in other words, of the good."

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In your own experiences, both in your own mind and in society, are there any things that obstruct the mind? Where do we see these obstructions throughout history, and how prevalent are they?

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I think that the very nature of school itself causes us to not to think and just accept what we are taught, as we often do not have the time or go to the lengths to prove and identify that what we learn is correct, and so we accept our reality as it is and not question anything deeper

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"Men would say of
him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to
think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let
them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death."

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Why is it that we accept our reality as it is and not question if there is anything deeper than what we can see, and vehemently reject anything which even interferes with that world view?

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I had particular difficulty grasping the concept of expanded electron configuration after I had been taught the varying energy states of electrons through the Bohr model. The idea of the expanded electron configuration was completely different from the Bohr model that I was so used to and it took significant effort to somewhat disregard the Bohr model in favor of the expanded electron configuration. This is reminiscent of Socrates asserting that the occupants of the cave would have a great deal of difficulty if they were faced with the truth of their situation since, for their entire lives, they were only exposed to a small portion of the cave. Similarly, I had difficulty understanding a new concept when it directly interfered with an older one that I had gotten accustomed to.

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“when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows” (pg. 3)

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Sometimes as I'm learning, when a topic is difficult and the end goal isn't close enough in sight I feel tempted to give up or return to something I know I can get done swiftly with ease. Trying to get through pages of textbook reading or understanding a difficult math problem becomes frustrating and seems more harmful than beneficial, similar to the prisoners trying to face the light. However with enough perseverance, the "light", which in this case would be difficult studying, also brings me towards a higher understanding.

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If the inhabitants of the cave were to become accustomed to the truth of the cave by turning around and freely exploring it, would it be easier or harder for their thoughts to be uprooted again if they are only being shown a portion/facade of reality and are then shown something closer to the truth?

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"in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and,
when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent
of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and
truth in the intellectual" (pg. 5)

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Do you agree with Plato that those who govern with love will only lead to bad governing?

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When I made the decision to come to IB, a lot of my friends from middle school didn't understand why I chose to go. I remember one of them even made fun of me for it. Now I realize that IB was probably the best path I could have taken. My choice to go to IB could be compared to the escape of one of the cave-dwellers into the light of the real world because it exposed me to new experiences.

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"And now shall we consider in what way such guardians will be produced, and
how they are to be brought from darkness to light, -- as some are said to have ascended from
the world below to the gods?" (p. 9)

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Do you agree with Plato that there is a difference between appearances and reality?

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In many of my classes, especially math or physics, I can be taught material and all the knowledge possible from my teacher, but I don't always master the skills or ideas until I practice them or apply them to a problem. I believe that no matter how much information is passed from other people, a large portion of our knowledge comes from experiences and application. When I succeed or fail in my experiences in math problems, I better understand the topic and I am more prepared for a test then when I just take notes.

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"my opinion is that in the
world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and,
when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent
of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and
truth in the intellectual" (pg. 5)

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How does not knowing the truth outside the cave affect the beliefs of the prisoners who never left the cave?

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What might the "cave" be symbolic of in society today that people are "imprisoned" in?

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In class sometimes it is easy to just aimlessly write down notes without processing the information which then makes me confused because even though I was writing down the notes and listening to them, I was thinking of something else. I think this can be loosely related to Plato's allegory because the text states that the "instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned" which I think claims that in order to gain real knowledge, we have to do it through it through philosophical reasoning. It is only through reviewing the content and thinking critically about it that we can truly understand what it means.

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"Would he not say with Homer,
Better to be the poor servant of a poor master,
and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their manner?" (4)

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Descriptions of war and poverty and death and other broad themes seem foreign to me, since I've never really had anything happen to me, so I kind of used to see them as shadows on the wall, or concepts that I couldn't see or understand beyond factual information or statistics, but through literature from time periods or places where great struggle was commonplace, like Mao's Last Dancer, my understanding of exactly how emotionally harrowing these experiences can be has deepened.

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"Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being, and learn by degrees to endure the sight of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or in other words, of the good" (6)

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Isn't it kind of suspicious that Plato, a philosopher, is claiming that the person best equipped to rule a state would be a philosopher?

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In my younger years, teachers would simply show the way to get to an answer. Due to my lack of knowledge, I did not know any better and would simply just follow their instructions. It never occurred to me why things were the way they were. I just knew that it was right. However, ever since high school, I have started to question more. For example, I will try to see different approaches to a math problem, why a certain answer is correct, and the logic behind it. This relates back to Plato’s allegory as at first I was restrained in the cave. I only saw things I could see. Whenever I (ascended into the light) gained more knowledge and understanding, I then started to question and think.

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“ They must be made to descend again among the prisoners in the cave, and partake of their labors and honors, whether they are worth having or not.” (pg. 7)

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Why doesn’t Plato make the people who were restrained show curiosity in wanting to escape?

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I was helping another student with math that I had learned a year prior. I kept on explaining the concept, but they just didn’t seem to get a grasp of the concept. I had to step in their shoes, and think about how I was when I was trying to learn the concept, and what I struggled with. When I approached teaching them with this mindset, I was better able to explain in a way that they could easily understand.

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[Socrates] Imagine once more, I said, such an one coming suddenly out of the sun to be
replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness? pg 4

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 What do you believe that seeing the real world in light vs a world in shadow was meant to represent?  

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If I could sum up my educational experience, it would be that you don't know what you don't know. This is especially relevant with learning new things. A psychological effect called the Dunning-Kruger effect shows that people who don't know much think they know a lot about a given topic. For example, whenever I was learning math in my middle school years, I fell quite behind because I was so confident in my math skills that I failed to actually pick up anything new until I started to fail tests. I was the person stuck in the cave pushing the freed man away for being stupid when I in reality was the stupid one for not just being out of the know but for rejecting new things. Though eventually, I did get better and started to actually learn the stuff I was supposed to learn, so that's nice.

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In the Allegory of the Cave, Socrates emphasizes the duty the educated. In my educational experience, I eventually learned to sometimes just sit down and do the necessary work even though I'd rather do something else.

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A part of my personal learning experience that is connected to "The Allegory of the Cave" is my understanding of history. Socrates explains that the prisoners in the cave only see shadows but perceive them as reality. However, when they come into light and adjust, they can see the true objects that cast that shadow. Similarly, when I was in elementary school, I was taught a very simplified, happy, and white washed telling of history. For instance I remember singing Columbus Day songs about how he sailed the ocean and discovered America thinking it was India. Silly Columbus! However in middle school history I was shocked to learn that Columbus's encounters with Native Americans were not always very kind, and further shocked in high school when I learn about the atrocities he committed.

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What exactly is so temporarily blinding when entering the intellectual world (sunlight) from the normal world(darkness) and vice versa?

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1. One specific moment of my education that I could compare Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” to is me coming into the IB program. Me being in the cave could be representative of my elementary and also middle school years, where I often didn't understand the full purpose of what I was learning in school. However, coming into the IB program helped create a whole different perspective of what my education really was, and thus further motivated me to continue learning. This is similar to how man came from out of the cave, and experienced sunlight for the first time, and how it was challenging and blinding for him at first as well.

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“Better to be the poor servant of a poor master” pg. 4

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Out of all the parts of the cave, which part do you think is the most symbolic and represents the most important aspect of our life?

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"And those who govern ought not to be lovers of the task? For, if they are, there will be rival lovers, and they will fight"(page 9).

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Plato's concept of enlightened individuals having an obligation to society reminds me of Raskolnikov's  theory of extraordinary people from Crime and Punishment. They are similar in the sense that there are certain individuals that possess superior traits to their peers and are capable of making great change. They differ in the sense that the concept of extraordinary people from Crime and Punishment is more radical, allowing extraordinary people to break laws in the pursuit of their goals of improving their community. Raskolnikov, believing himself to be an extraordinary, commits a crime. Plato intends for the enlightened individuals to become world leaders and bring positive change. He believes that only the most wise should become rulers. This can be a harmful concept when taken to extremes as it promotes elitism and segregation, as the enlightened will see themselves as superior.

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Why are people who are not in the know (the ones who never left the cave) so stubborn against things they don't know about?

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"Observe, Glaucon, that there will be no injustice in compelling our philosophers
to have a care and providence of others; we shall explain to them that in other States, men of
their class are not obliged to share in the toils of politics: and this is reasonable, for they
grow up at their own sweet will, and the government would rather not have them. Being
self-taught, they cannot be expected to show any gratitude for a culture which they have
never received." (pg. 8)

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What does the quote "you must not wonder that those who attain to this beatific
vision are unwilling to descend to human affairs; for their souls are ever hastening into the
upper world where they desire to dwell;" (page 5) say about how the privileged treat the less fortunate.

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" ...the intention of the legislator, who

did not aim at making any one class in the State happy above the rest; the happiness was to

be in the whole State..." (pg. 7-8)

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What might force someone to take time to adjust to light or darkness?

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"But then, if I am right, certain professors of education must be wrong when they
say that they can put a knowledge into the soul which was not there before, like sight into
blind eyes." (pg 6)

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In my own personal experience, I have found that the only way to learn is by wanting to. You can’t force yourself to learn! In the fourth grade, I used to help one kid in my math class with division. The issue that he had wasn’t that he couldn’t learn how to divide, rather it was the fact that he didn’t want to. In fact, this past week Mr. Buehrer said something to my math class, “you can’t shut yourself down when you don’t understand something. It will be in your best interest to make the effort to learn, even when you don't understand all aspects of the subject”. Just as Mr. Buehrer had mentioned, the student that I tutored was closing himself off to the idea of learning division because he didn’t understand every aspect of it from the very beginning. Once he broke the learning process into steps, then he realized that learning wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be, and he opened himself up to absorbing the information taught in math class. In the end, he got an A on his math test and was motivated to learn!

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I believe the part of the allegory that talks about the two types of states (the cave and the world above) being governed relates to my own educational experience because I have been shown to live in a world in which there is a supposedly limited governmental influence as the ideal form of government. Plato states that the people in the cave would be striving for power at most costs and that would in turn make the government into a war-driven society in which people fight for power. There are instances in our history, that I have learned throughout my education, where this has been the case such as Hitler’s Nazi Germany during World War II and Stalin’s Soviet Empire during the Cold War. Both of these systems of dictatorship or socialist republic ended up failing in the end, leading to a logical conclusion that Plato makes when he says that “the State in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best and most quietly governed.” (pg. 8) This is why the US ended up being one of most successful nations (though I have obvious bias) that won WWII and the Cold War. The US government was made by the people and for the people rather than through the interests of a singular leader. Though I’ve been talking about forms of government, this section also offers insight into our view of the world and its actual reality through sense-perception. Plato states that we can only imagine what we can’t see and the prisoners in the cave are unaware of the world beyond and use their mind to make a perception of what the outside world looks like. However, this is just one perception and as the concept of “post-truth” has shown us, there is no such specific reality but rather our reality is what we’ve been conditioned to believe and perceive of the world around us.

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“… the State in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best and most quietly governed, and the State in which they are most eager, the worst.” (page 8)

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“Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the
eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from
going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and
he who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not
be too ready to laugh; he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter
light, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness
to the day is dazzled by excess of light.” (pg. 6)

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What do the shadows represent in context to the prisoner’s life situation?

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How does Plato’s depiction of the prisoners in the cave longing for the supposed reality outside of the cave relate to our worldview as a “post-truth” world?