Comfort Zones In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” he too argues that people do not realize that there is a greater world, or a greater good out there. Humans only focus on what is right in front of them, what makes sense to them in their own realities and prefer to remain in their comfort zones. Plato’s allegory is told as a dialogue between Plato’s mentor, Socrates, as well as Plato’s brother, Glaucon, whom of which agrees to everything that Socrates states. In the allegory, there are prisoners who are trapped inside. However, one of the prisoners is freed and is given the opportunity to learn of the greater world. Socrates argues that once the prisoner is freed, he will want to return to his place of comfort such as Cypher in the Matrix. Socrates rhetorically questions, “Don’t you suppose he’d be at a loss and believe what was seen before is truer than what is now shown?” (194).

For instance, if a person has driven on the same route for ten years, and another person tells them to drive another way, they will most likely continue to drive on their usual route because it is what they know. People hang on to all that they know essentially because it is comfortable. However, if they were to be open to learning of this higher realm, they would have to learn gradually rather than thrown into it instantaneously. As Socrates states, “Then I suppose he’d have to get accustomed, if he were going to see what’s up above” (195). Socrates argues that one cannot expect a person to immediately understand the greater knowledge of the world, but one must teach of this greater knowledge with ease and patience. Because a person who has been stuck in their ways will not initially understand new topics, the teacher must slowly introduce to them the greater good, which according to Plato as well as Morpheus in The Matrix,