Blog #3: The Matrix: Utopia, Dystopia, and Realities

In the “Allegory of the Cave”, Socrates explains that if the prisoner was to leave the cave and endure the world outside the cave, then they would learn to accept the outside world though feeling   deceptive and uncertain about it. If the prisoner was to give up the illusion they were living in and embrace truth beyond the cave, they would learn to adjust and realize the world beyond the cave is a more improved and better world then the world they were living in. Plato’s theory was questionable but overall had a valid point.  The Amish were a group of people who didn’t believe in any other world except theirs. They were simple living and dressed plainly.  They were strictly against modern culture and technology.  The Amish people were not allowed to use electricity or allowed to use or own automobiles.  The Amish were closed off from society; they were raised in a strict environment away from technology and advance development of machinery. There kids were raised to believe that this was their world, at least for 18 years. After the kid had become 18 years of age, they were allowed to leave the Amish society and enter the world of technology. As Socrates described when a prisoner leaves the cave he feels scared and deceived, as do the Amish people. The Amish people never experienced a reality where cars were moving, or people were able to communicate through a cellular device. They entered a completely new world. This new world was better; it was an easier way of life. This new world had technology and machinery to help out with everything. The Amish people lived in a reality where everything was hand done.  This world was better, just as this new world that the prisoner entered.

I grew up in Brooklyn but growing up; I would always travel back to my home county Poland. My grandparents lived in an area of open space. They didn’t believe in technology themselves. Instead of using a heater they would burn firewood every morning for hot water and heat.  My grandparents owned a bunch of chickens, so instead of going to the supermarket for eggs, every morning they would just go into their backyard and pick up a few eggs from there hens. Every summer I would help them out. I would dig up potatoes and plant vegetables.  Then one summer I bought my grandmother a toaster. She looked at me in disbelief and asked me why I brought that for her. I told her it would be much easier for her to toast things with a toaster. She used it once and never tried it again. She told me even though this toaster was amazing and a huge help to her, she would rather do things her own way. She said the world I lived in was different and she wasn't familar with all the advances in technology and cooking equipment I lived around. She then told me,  she loved the world she grew up in and was just to scared to adapt into the world I was living in. Years later she accepted my toaster gift and started using it, she soon began using more cooking items and adjusted to this new better world. She found life to be way more easier.