Beliefs Held True in the Cave Being trapped in a cave, a prisoner with only the shadows of the people who seek to contain them is apparent in many ways of life today. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave'' is at the forefront of this outlook on society claiming we are all prisoners in a cave in some ways in life. The shadows gazed upon, being created by those who wish to keep the prisoners trapped in their false sense of reality. Never able to form their own opinions or thoughts unless the prisoners escape from the cave; only then being able to move past their past outlook on life. A very prominent example in the modern world today of Plato’s cave is belief systems and how it's used to control people's thoughts for better or worse. Whether through …show more content…
While these groups can be good, they can also get taken to the extreme in some cases resulting in another example of Plato’s cave. People get lost in these beliefs and refuse to see otherwise like some of the prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the cave”. As described by Plato when discussing how the prisoner would react to someone trying to leave the cave, “if anyone tried to lose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.” (Plato 475). These groups hold very strong ideals and in many cases refuse to change even with the truth of their reality so obvious to them. An example of this would be the group of people who still believe the earth is flat. While undoubtedly proven to be false these people stick to their ideals and refuse to believe the truth. They are prisoners in a cave they made for themselves, looking at the shadows created as it is easier than accepting they are wrong. Escaping from this cave means accepting defeat and acknowledging their misbelief which is why it is so difficult for some to escape these caves. These people are so held up in their shadows believing they have to be true rather than just stepping outside the cave and seeing the light of their true