Classmate responses ****Professor Anthony ONLY****

The cave represents how we are trained to think, fell or act according to society, following our own way and not the way intended for us. The shadows are merely a reflection of what they perceived to be reality instead of an illusion. The prisoners are trapped in society, each one of us who choose to stay trapped in our own way. The man that escapes is the person who no longer is a slave to society and can see the difference between reality and illusion. The day light can be compared to God’s will. When you don’t follow the plan that has been laid out for you by God, than you are trapped and you will only see illusions or reflections of reality. Escaping and choosing to go into “the light,” or following the will of God, only then can you be set free from your prison.

When looking at a piece of art, a painting, for example, at first glance the painting can appear to be something other what it is intended to be (reality). This reminds me of those pictures that everyone sees on social media, the picture that has circles all over it. When you look at the picture it appears that the circles are moving, but in reality the circles do not move at all. So art can more or less be perceived as more of an illusion.

An example of the picture can be seen here http://www.dailyhaha.com/_pics/movie_circles_illusion.jpg

Accepting illusion as reality happens a lot more times than we probably think. Anything that we see on T.V., Social Media, internet, or even dating, can all be perceived as an illusion at some point. Take dating for example; how a person acts on a date is most likely not how they would act to someone they have known for a while (illusion). Not all people pretend to be something different but in many cases they do. Recognizing what you failed to see after the initial first date and thereafter is how you would know what you first seen was just simply an illusion and therefore not reality, unless of course in reality they are simply a fake person I suppose. Following this pattern makes you realize most people do not appear to be who they are. A good “first impression” doesn’t necessarily mean much when thinking about illusions vs reality, because that’s all the “first impression” is in fact more or less an illusion.

People live in shadows because they fail to recognize reality and choose to continue to believe in illusions. With the growth of Social media, more and more people are falling victim to what things appear to be and will stay in the dark (cave). We as a society are imprisoned by what we see and read through news channels and social media. We will believe anything that comes across CNN or any news station (not fox news though) and let them make up our mind for us. People comment on any shooting victims and assume the cop was in the wrong and is racist, in reality that is not always the case.

It’s interesting to think in terms of appearance vs reality when viewing not only art, but the world. Not taking things for what they appear to be at a first glance can help you determine illusions vs reality and help you escape your “cave.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EPz5z1pUag

The Allegory of the Cave made people start to wonder if we are using illusions to determine our reality to the way we perceive things. The cave in this store symbolizes an illusion of a world that people has forced themselves to believe in. The shadow on the walls are what is specifically shown to people to force them into a bias way of thinking about the world. The shadows want to warp your perception of thing. The prisoners symbolizes people because they narrator wanted to show how we are prisoners of illusions and shadows. Basically saying we as people walk into other people truths instead of finding our own way of thinking and living. The man who escapes to daylight is the people who decided to create their own truths and their own way of viewing the world. These people go out and seek knowledge and experiences to create their own perception on life. I believe art is created to get your mind wondering. Art can be viewed a thousand ways by different people but some arts can show a clear understanding to what the message is the artist is trying to convey. I believe art is the reality of some painter or writer but is just as illusion for the person looking at it or reading it because it can be depicted any way by different people. Ones perception may not be another perception and neither may not be the truth it can just be a simple illusion to make you believe the way the painter or writer want you to believe. For example with this painting below it is clear that the message of this painting is that a man is suppose to protect his family from all object and obstacles while the women protect their family by praying and nurturing them. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/b8/a9/d4/b8a9d40543f7ad4d11317cfcf3cd4e07.jpg

I have made the mistake of of accepting illusion as a reality. For example, I watch a lot of law enforcement shows and before I started taking Forensic Science courses I let the show warp my perception into believing everything that is shown on the show is how forensic scientist and law enforcement operate when in reality majority of the things shown on the show isn't even done in real life. I know that everything shown on tv isn't real but those kind of shows make you start to believe thats how the law enforcement and forensic science operate is realistic when in reality its created a illusion to make you real like its real. Yes I believe people today live in shadows because we as human will just believe everything that is taught to us without questioning it or doing our own research to find our own truth. We live in a world where if "it sound good" it is good, we allow other people perception and way of thinking become our own. For example as a child if your parents teach you that you have to go to college to be successful for the rest of your life you will make that your reality even if school isn't for you because that was what was taught to you, you wont be able to see it any other way.