Borges
People’s worlds are shaped around the way they view them. For instance, in Tlön, the language, disciplines, doctrines, and literature—among other things—are all influenced by their relative view of the world. And maybe that can be flipped around as well! How much does the structure of our world shape our view of it? Did the Tlönists reject materialism because their language hardly allowed it, or was it because of their idealism? It’s all so interconnected that it essentially becomes the same thing, which might be why we’re so resistant to change. Unless we—as in, everyone who lives with any sort of personal or worldly ignorance—consciously choose to expand our knowledge, switch up our conceptual schemes, or come “out of the cave,” the ways our worlds work push us to believe certain things and act in certain ways. The media and texts we read, people we interact with, and ideas we explore influence who we become; in the same way, we influence others with our views, words, and actions.
Plato
We only know as much as our reality allows, and it’s interesting how realities or conceptual schemes can shift and develop (and how we might resist these changes). Is it so bad that some people want to remain ignorant, or “in the cave,” for their lives? If people are happy with their reality and knowledge, however limited, and their ignorance doesn’t hurt anyone else, why should people seek further knowledge? The people remaining in the cave seemed perfectly content to do so; as long as they did not know the supposed brilliance waiting for them outside the cave, how would it change their lives to stay in the dark? Also, who’s to say that “outside the cave” is actually reality or something that can be known as real? What if it too is another illusion, much like the shadows in the cave?
