Blog 2: The Allegory of The Cave through History

For many years, mothers whom were pregnant believed that their thoughts and emotions gradually affected the characteristics and child development of their unborn child. This theory was very popular in the early 18th century. It was believed that if a mother were to be depressed in her pregnancy, then that would result in her child to be depressed in his or her life. If a child was to be born blind, then it was because the mother had been exposed to loud noise or the mother associated with a blind person at the time of her pregnancy. Joseph Merrick was born with a very unusual disease; he grew up with disfiguring tumors which spread all over his face. He was led to believe that because his mother was frightened by an elephant when she was pregnant with him, he had developed elephant features on his hands and face. As he was growing up his face and body developed many more tumors made of bone.

Towards the beginning of the 20^th century more people stopped believing in this theory and only noted it as a superstition. After many people dismissed this theory they started believing in the Mozart Effect. Many people didn’t know what to believe in and kept their minds set on maternal impressions. The reality of the maternal impression theory is as one begins to believe that the reason their child becomes ill or undeveloped is because of their own thoughts and exposure to different sight, touch ,smell, hear and taste they start to question what they need to do for the better health of their unborn child. Many mothers left the reality in which they believed their kids were growing up ill because of their exposure to ill people and started taking care of themselves and began thinking as normal people.

Blog 2: (Summary) The Allegory of the Cave

In Plato’s "Allegory of the Cave" it is argued that many people are prisoners of their own reality. The cave is preserved as a hole of darkness and eternal life. Socrates explains his theory to Glaucon that the prisoners who have been living all their life in a cave chained up to wall will not accept reality for which it really is. They will not want to adopt to it and will deny it.

These prisoners are chained to a wall with no way of escaping. They are forced to look at this wall because they are unable to turn their heads. They may only look in front of them for which they are looking at shadows that are being cast by what we now call are puppeteers. Every prisoner experiences the same reality. The cave overshadows the true reality these prisoners aren’t experiencing. Socrates, Paltos brother believes that if these prisoners were to be let free into their reality, they would be gravely mistaken to what is reality is.

Socrates explains to Glaucon in their conversation that if a prisoner is adapted to there old habitation they would deny and rather live the reality they’ve been living then adapt to what they would see beyond the cave. They would rather suffer and live depressing lives then accept this new reality they’ve been introduced to. Socrates argues the idea that because these prisoners grew up in the reality where they cannot turn their heads, or see because of the darkness surrounding them they will not accept the reality he and Glaucon live in.

Our light is the sun; our lives revolve with the ability to see. These prisoners see what darkness is. They have no sight, though they are not blind but only unaware of the light that doesn’t enter the cave. If they were to be let free into the reality beyond the cave they would deny it and wish to return to their own reality they have been living in for their entire lives.

Blog 1: The Cave and I

At some point of my life I believed in religion. Every Sunday morning my parents would drag me out of bed and force me to go to church and every Sunday night my grandmother would tell me and my brothers about how god walked the earth. She would say he was the creator of all living things. He created the land we walk on. At the time I was 8 years old, I would have believed anything. After a couple of years I realized my classmates followed different religions. How was that possible? How can everyone follow a different belief if my grandmother told me God created all. If God created all, why was my classmate refusing to go to church with me on Sunday? Why did she tell me her parents don’t believe in one god but many? Going into Middle School I was introduced to more religions. Every class I attend there was a numerous amount of students with different beliefs. At this point of my life I was confused. I questioned weather the fact there was even a god.  One Sunday I decided to skip church I told my mom I wasn’t going. I told her I didn’t believe there was god and that’s when she signed me up for religion class which I attended  every Wednesday evening. Religion class was basically everything they would talk to us about in church but it still didn’t convince me that there was really a god. I asked my teacher what he believed and he said “As long as everyone has something to believe in, the world will be sane”, which made sense to me. If society didn’t believe in anything, everyone would be chaotic. Everyone needs to believe in something so that less questions would be asked about religion.