Definition Of Reality In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

Reality! What is reality? I ask myself, repeating the question in my head, and am I living it, or am I living just a false reality that’s being presented to me? In reading Plato’s Allegory of the cave, it made me ask myself this question, what is reality? In Plato’s story he examined the definition of reality. Reality according to oxford dictionary is “The state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them” (Oxford Dictonary). In The Allegory of the Cave, reality to the prisoners in the cave, were mere shadows that appeared on the wall, produced by the fire that sat behind the objects that cast them. The shadows on the wall were the prisoner’s only perception of reality. Without having this image to

E.M Forster’s “The Machine Stops” draws a comparison to Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”. Just like the prisoners, they do not get to see and feel the people or objects. They used ‘The Machine’ as a tool to experience reality. We live in an age of deception today where everyone has their own truth, or where other people, and you, convince yourself that something is true. In the allegory of the cave, when one of the prisoners left, and later came back to tell the others what he had seen, they decided to believe their own version of the truth, just like Vashti and her son Kuno. Today our way of interaction is through machines. In Forsters story, in their reality the people do not communicate with their mouth or ears but use machines for interaction. Forster’s writing about communication is similar to communicating in today’s society. We live in a time where technology/networks are being integrated into the lives of people, like Vashti. Forster used Kuno and Vashti’s relationship as an example of how much technology has complicated the lives of

Technology is very powerful and it is important that we recognize this and not underestimate the effect that it has on society not only today but in the future. So my question is what is reality is it something that is true and unquestionable? Today we all have a hard time facing reality. I believe that each of us perceive things differently. Our beliefs are what shape our reality as years pass by. Although there is new technology that comes out constantly, that does not mean that it should be our focus. There are other stuff out there other than technology, do not get stuck in a cave blinded by what you think you see, what you think you know, what you hear or even feel; go out and experience things for yourself and experience new things, because if we do not, Forster’s future will not be a fiction story be real life