Plato’s Parable of the Cave – 2020 Edition
A man is stuck with his fellow prisoners chained to the floor of a cave with their backs to a wall. They can only see the wall across from them. On the wall there are images cast in firelight and shadows created by others behind them in the cave. Each day, they wake to see the images before them: birds, animals, trees. As they know no other reality, this is the world. These are real. They have no idea they are prisoners. And day after day, they live this false reality. They are happy with it and they feel safe.
One day, one of the prisoners notices the chains and wonders. He has lived with these chains his whole life but what if… Upon tugging on the chains he manages to get free. As he stands and looks around he sees the men behind him. For the first time in his life, he sees the fire that creates the firelight and that the men are casting shadows on the wall. These men are creating the images he has known his whole life. The cave wall is not real, it is this that is real.
It is then that he notices the light from the mouth of the cave and ventures towards it. As he approaches the mouth of the cave, his eyes are flooded with light from the sun. His eyes hurt as he struggled for them to focus and adjust as they are not used to this - he has never used them before this way. It is then he sees real birds, real animals, and real trees. He sees the real world.
He rushes back in to the cave and sneaks past the men making the images on the wall. As he sits back down with his former prisoners, he excitedly tells the story of the men by the fire, the cave opening, and the real world. To his amazement, his fellow prisoners deem him mad and become angry at his pulling on their chains and his loonatic rantings. Their eyes are still focused on the cave wall and have no idea what he is talking about. With all the stirring and commotion, the images on the wall changed. The images now portrayed a story that there were no men making images on the wall there was no fire and that’s all there was to it. To believe otherwise was conspiracy and dangerous. In the darkness of the night and with the fires out, his captors seized him, dragged him to a different part of the cave, and re-shackled his chains. When the firelight and images once again appeared, he could see from his new angle both the images on the wall and the men making the shadows on the walls. He could see his fellow prisoners, but due to the lighting, they could not see him.
As the days went by the images continued and his fellow prisoners remained transfixed to the wall, he continued to whisper about the cave to anyone that would listen. Eventually, he was able to see which image the shadow men would make before it was on the wall and began to whisper it out to the prisoners. “There will next be a bird”, and then there was a bird. “There will next be a dog”, and then there was a dog. One by one, his fellow prisoners, took notice. As he whispered, their eyes looked his way then back to the wall. His voice seem to come from everywhere with the cave echo. More and more eyes searched his way and his fellow prisoners began to wonder and whisper amongst themselves. “He is able to tell us what will be on the wall.” “How many times must this be before it becomes mathematically impossible to be a coincidence?” They started to look around at their surroundings. Started to think for themselves. They used logic and discernment and began to observe things that they had not noticed before. They whispered his way “We can hear you but cannot see you!” “Who are you?” He pondered this for a moment while staring down as his arm shackle and its shape. “Call me Q.” Q was everywhere. Q was nowhere. Who is Q?
One by one, prisoners pulled on their chains and freed themselves to stand up and see for themselves the men, the fire, and the cave opening. The entire cave started to awake. The men creating the images started to PANIC and attack those trying to pass by to leave the cave. Some prisoners were even killed. As more prisoners awoke from their illusion, they came to realize that their captors, while providing them mindless entertainment and flashy images, they were the source of great suffering, hardships, war, and death. These men were clearly the enemy of the people. Just as dangerous were their fellow prisoners who had not yet woke as they formed factions and were led by the images on the wall. The prisoners decided they would need to overcome their captors, take over the images to free the remaining prisoners, and if necessary, strike down their enemy. This would not be allowed to happen to anybody ever again. They would need to block the cave. No. They would need to tear down the whole mutherfucking cave and the evil system with it. Rise.