Blog 2: The Allegory Of The Cave Through History

  Throughout history people have lived in illusions. One illusion I am interested in, is the illusion of ancient cultures that the world is flat. Ancient cultures including Greece, India, China, and Egypt; thought the land was like a flat disk floating in the ocean. They thought if you went too far you would fall off the Earth. Even some of the brightest philosophers of those times thought the world was flat.  Philosophers like Democritus, Anaximander, and Anaximenes of Miletus just to name a few. Everyone just excepted it as a fact and didnt question it. Years later a man named Pythagoras was recognized in the 6th cenury BC for discovering that the earth was actually a sphere. That is half-way true because nowadays we know the Earth is a sphere flattened along the axis from pole to pole with a bulge around the equator. He was on the right path though, that basically opened up people's minds. In later years Christopher Columbus wanted to go to India for precious spices. He wanted to sail from Spain and land on India but people thought he was going to fall off the Earth if he tried that, but it is said that ancient sailors already knew the world was round. He ended up sailing from spain and he thought he landed on India but he really landed on Caribbean Islands. A couple of years after that a man named Ferdinand Magellan would try to be the first person to sail around the world. He almost circled around the world but he died close to the end of his voyage, but the survivors finished the voyage. After a voyage circled around the world the theory of a flat world was a thing of the past. If the people of the past wouldn't have ask questions, we would still think the world was flat. The only sad part is the amount of deaths it took to prove the world isn't flat, also the deaths of the people who were killed when their lands were "found".

Blog 2: The Allegory Of The Cave

  The Allegory Of The Cave is an excerpt from The Republic. It starts by Socrates telling Glaucon about enslaved human beings living in a underground den. These slaves are chained and can't move, they only see a fire in the distance. Between the slaves and the fire is a wall and over there is where they show the puppets. The slaves can only see their shadows and the shadows of other slaves. In this prison they can hear eachother with echos. A slave is released and he goes toward the light and it hurts his eyes. He is told that everything he saw before was an illusion. Now he is closer to having a clearer vision. If he looks into the light his eyes will be dazzled and he won't be able to see what he calls realities. He will have to get used to the sight of the upper world. He will start to see the sky and see the stars. He'll see the sun in his own proper place. He'll start to argue that the sun gives the seasons and years. Then he remembered his old habitation and remember the wisdom of his fellow prisoners and pity their wisdom. He would rather suffer than to live in false notions. After he has been in the sun, would he have darkness in his eyes when he goes back into the cave? Many of the slaves would think he left the cave and lost his eyes due to the sun. So if anyone in the cave tries to help another escape they will be put to death. In conclusion Socrates explains to Glaucon that the cave is the world of sight, the light is the fire, and the journey to leave the cave is to go into the intellectual world. Seeing takes an effort.

Blog 1: The Cave And I

          In my life many things have changed througout my life time, including my beliefs. I have noticed that I have changed as I grow up and will continue to change as my life goes on. Change is constant and I had to awake my conscious. I used to belief in religion and now that has changed. The religion I used to believe in was roman catholic. There are many reasons why I changed my belief and there are also consequences due to that change. I am still young and there are many things I remain in a cave with, like what happens after you die.

          First of all, if you are a roman catholic, you must believe that pope is the world wide leader of the roman catholic church. You must believe that Jesus Christ founded the religion and that the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus without having intercourse. Also that Jesus was crossed, died, then resurrected. Your belief has to be that you will be judged before you enter heaven. Everything you have done here on earth thoughout your WHOLE life will effect your chances of getting inside the gates of heaven. Another thing you have to consider is that your religion is the right one and the other ones are incorrect.

          Second, there are many reasons why I have changed my belief. I started to think, hey if the pope is our leader why is he dressed in expensive outfits while kids are starving? I also started to doubt that a man named Jesus Crist even existed let alone resurrected. I questioned everything I was ever told about religion.

I started to understand that religion was used to control large amounts of people. If you told the people if they act bad on earth they wouldn't be able to get into heaven, wouldnt everyone be scard to act bad? Why install fear into many minds? It must be for power over your reality. I began to ask myself, if the religion I believed in was right, wouldnt everyone who didnt believe in it simply go to hell? A consequence to not believing in religion is people who are conditioned to their beliefs start to think your crazy.

          Last but not least, there is alot of things I dont know. With no religion to tell me what happenes after death, you start to wonder what really happens. I am not ashamed to say I DONT KNOW and unless I die and then come back to life I will never know untill that day. Many people seek religion to answer this question after a loved one has died and then they convert into whatever religion they have found comfort in. Death is a natural part of life, if we would just focus on this life as much as we do about an after-life then we wouldn't have to die to see a heaven. We need to have peace and unity. I am still in this cave called Earth and when i get out of this cave I just hope my eyes can withstand the light.

          In conclusion, I have changed as I go through the everyday experiences of life. I have change my beliefs in religion. I am no longer a roman catholic, I am simply a human living out my life. I dont believe I have to be threatened with hell to be a good person. Its ok if people that dont understand me think im crazy, some people have been programed into their beliefs since small and it will be difficult to go outside of the cave. Dont fear the consequences of your thoughts, just seek the truth, even if it hurts your eyes at first. I am still in the cave with many things but someone told me it's better to have unanswered questions than answers that cant be questioned.

                                                                                   
   Peace and Love,  Kevin Cortes