Blog 1: The Cave and I (Revised)

            There are certain instances in life where people would rather sit through the comfort of a lie than face the harsh truths of reality. This same idea is portrayed in the text of Plato's Republic, where three prisoners are confined to a cave facing a blank wall. The prisoner's gradually begin to associate with the shadows that are projected on the wall by a flickering fire behind them. The shadows on the wall are the closest to reality the prisoners ever get to see, thus having them create their own sort of "make-believe" world within the cave.

            The situation described in Plato's text can also be made in reference to a personal experience of my own. Where I had chosen to live out of everyone else’s "facade of perfection" and face the truth despite how overwhelming it looked among my peers, my friends, and my family. During the process of my late high school years, I had the realization that what I really wanted to do with my life was perceive a career in the arts. This was not a successful and sophisticated career according to my family however; who proceeded to threaten me with abandonment and tell me how I would never amount to anything if I chose that path in life. Their harsh words and critiques were hurtful and I gradually began to convince myself that I never had any artistic talent to begin with; in hope that my aspirations were just a childish phase and that my family would accept me once again. Never did it cross my mind that I was living and acting to amuse and please those around me, or how I was always sure to keep everyone content at all costs; even if that meant sacrificing my happiness for their own.

             Being told what to do and how to do it became as simple as breathing with me, and until just a little while ago I didn't come to realize that being told what is the best thing for you to do sometimes isn't the best thing for you to do at all. Persuading myself that I was a failure was all too easy for me; with being so used to changing my thoughts and emotions to another persons’ preference nearly every moment of the day. It was different this time though, and I noticed a drastic change in my character. I was no longer my creative and fun loving self, and after a certain point in time I began to stop caring about my grades, whether I got out of bed every morning, and most importantly, myself.  It was a long time till I finally came to realize that the only way to overcome this severe depression was to change my way of thinking and outlook on life. If I wanted the way I felt to change, I had to change for myself and not for anyone else. I know this better than anyone else, considering that I’m attending a Media Arts course this semester despite my family’s opinions.

            Before, I had never come to think about what might just happen if I were to look at all of the possibilities I had before me and if I had a different perspective of what life could be like. As quoted from Socrates in Plato's Republic; "True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?"

            According to Plato, the shadows are as close to the real world the prisoner's get to really see. He further explains that the only way the prisoners can come to realizing what reality really is if they are freed from the cave to come to understand that the shadows aren't all there is to life. Knowing this, they can perceive their own form of reality, and not simply one that has been chosen for them by a cave wall and its shadows; or what has been chosen for them by other people, in my case.

             I believe that accepting the truth is one of the fundamental tools in reaching happiness. Accepting the truth, guilt, and isolation come hand in hand in these situations, but in the end you come to realize who is really willing to stand beside you the rest of the way. If not, and reaching true happiness means sitting outside of the comfort of the cave alone, then so be it.

Draft for Blog 1

(Eek! This is pretty late but I hope to catch up with all of the other students!)

My name is Yumarlin Rodriguez, although my friends and family call me Yumi for short. I am a 17 year old freshman here at LaGuardia Community College. I was born and raised in NYC although my heart resides in San Francisco. I photograph/draw and all of that artistic hubbub (haha) ... and I hope to someday work as an animator/graphic design artist. I tend to use bright and vibrant color in the things I make/take. I am happy, overexposed, and saturated.

Blog 2: The Allegory of the Cave

     In The Republic, Plato uses the cave as an allegory to symbolize how certain people would much rather live their life in the comforts of an illusion created by a web of lies as opposed to accepting the cold hard truth for what it really is. These situations not only exist within the texts of Plato, but have also managed to appear in certain parts of world history, and even in our lives today.
     In fact, one of the biggest and outstanding examples of the argument could be found in the late 18th century Romantic era (1780-1850). This time period was a highly quarrelsome one; with the rise of the Industrial Revolution and Enlightenment period heavy on their way at just about the same time. The Industrial Revolution took a great toll on people. The invention of new working machinery put a lot of people out of their jobs and homes, forcing families of tens and fifteens into one bedroom apartments. In other cases, just the opposite happened, where people were so determined to keep their job that they'd put their own families at stake. Young children were used to operate small working places in machinery where the average adult was not able to work in. Pollution given off by the new material was also a risk, and the heavy lifting and machinery endangered people's health.
     Here is where Romanticism was born. As strange as it sounds, Romanticism arose from all of the suffering from the Industrial Revolution. To cope with these tragedies and hardships, people looked for comfort in emotions and creativity, at times even looking to Religion as a form of escape or hope from the cruel realities of the world. Death was romanticized by cartoonists in the paper, in paintings, and in articles, where dying people were looked at as heroes, despite the worsening conditions. Art became the primary thought of the people, and they believed that as long as they believed they were genuinely happy, they would be.
     Those who were supporters of the Enlightenment were well aware of the illusion Romantics were trying to portray to the world and sought out an intellectual, scientific, and cultural approach to put a final end to the suffering of the Industrial Revolution. The Enlightenment encouraged the government to take it's role in society and help the people. Providing new ways of technology, medical advances, and laws that provided the people with a sense of independence.
     The realism of the Enlightenment period was a savior for those who had undergone the suffering of the Industrial Revolution, and in a sense depicts the same idea Plato expresses to his audience in The Republic. Although the prisoners in Plato's cave and the people from the Industrial Revolution believed that the best way to cope with a bad situation was to pretend it was perfectly fine, they ultimately failed to realize that the situation will only worsen if not approached by it's core.

Website: http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture16a.html

Blog 1: The Cave and I

     There are certain instances in life where people would rather sit through the comfort of a lie than face the harsh truths of reality. This same idea is portrayed in the text of Plato's Republic, where three prisoners are confined to a cave facing a blank wall. The prisoner's gradually begin to associate with the shadows that are projected on the wall by a flickering fire behind them. The shadows on the wall are the closest to reality the prisoners ever get to see, thus having them create their own sort of "make-believe" world within the cave.

     The situation described in Plato's text can also be made in reference to a personal experience of my own. I had chosen to live out of my "facade of perfection" and face the truth despite how overwhelming it looked among my peers, my friends, and my family. During the process of my high school years, I became an actress within myself. I lived and acted to amuse those around me. I was always sure to keep everyone content at all costs; Even if that meant sacrificing my happiness for their own.

      Being told what to do and how to do it became as simple as breathing with me, and until just a little while ago I didn't come to realize that being told what is the best thing for you to do sometimes isn't the best thing for you to do at all. I always thought that impressing others was the right way to live my life, and that the only way to advance was to make those around me happy and be rewarded for my good behavior.

      I never came to think about what might just happen if I were to look at all of the possibilities I had before me and what would happen if I had a different perspective of what life could be like. As quoted from Socrates in Plato's Republic; "True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?"

      According to Plato, the shadows are as close to the real world the prisoner's get to really see. He further explains that the only way the prisoners can come to realizing what reality really is if they are freed from the cave to come to understand that the shadows aren't all there is to life. Knowing this, they can perceive their own form of reality, and not simply one that has been chosen for them by a cave wall and it's shadows.

      I believe that accepting the truth for what it really is is one of the fundamental tools in reaching happiness. Accepting the truth, guilt, and isolation come hand in hand in these situations, but in the end you come to realize who is really willing to stand beside you the rest of the way. If not, and reaching true happiness means sitting outside of the comfort of the cave and out alone in the rain, then so be it.