Writing/Wellbeing/Politics - Plato's Cave, the Cave, Finding Meaning, Fear of the Other.

Evolutionary Psychology etc...

According to Plato’s allegory of the cave, if people were born in a cave and were chained up, and all they could see were the shadows on the wall of the real world that they were unable to see behind them, many would return to the cave to live if someone then showed them the actual real world. Why? It is what they know. We are all, to some extent, creatures of habit.

There are times when we feel anxious and scared of something new, when all we want to do is retreat to our comfort zone. Safe and away from threats and the unknown quantities of the outside world. The cave. The bed. The couch. The route we know.

You can find the cave a place of meaning to some extent. But we also need to move around. Outside the cave is the way to true meaning. There are many paths to follow. Some will be harder than others, but all will be hard to some extent. Choosing to stay in the cave will probably be the hardest on you in the long run. The obstacle is the way.

The cave is also a place where we are free of the Other. The dangerous and unpredictable threat. Outside the cave, we can experience the warmth of others, but the fear and threat of the Other. Many use this primal fear to spread hatred and fear across the modern world. Punch down. Blame the foreigner. The minority.

So don’t be afraid to see new things. Get out of the cave and into the world to find meaning, even if you sleep in the cave at night. And be wary of those who tell you to punch down.