In the seventh book of the Republic, written by the philosopher Plato, you will find the Allegory of the Cave. In it, people are, and always have been, living in a cave. In this cave, they sit chained and facing the wall, unable to look anywhere but straight ahead. There is a fire burning behind them, but they cannot turn to see it. Also behind them is another group of people who hold up representations of real things in front of the fire (think of this in terms of cardboard cutouts, or like a child's shadow puppet show). The people facing the cave wall can only see the shadows, which they understand to be the real things. For example, because they can't turn to look at each other or the people behind them, they believe that the shadows they see of people are the actual people themselves.

One of these people is finally freed from this state, able to turn around, leave the cave. At first she is blinded by the light of the fire, and then by the sun when she leaves the cave. So accustomed to the dark, she can't see anything. Once she can see, she looks around her, sees the real world and realizes that her prior reality was nothing more than an illusion, merely a shadow of what is authentic. Having this realization, this person feels compelled to return to the cave and tell the others the truth, to release them from their bondage.

© Salahub 2003