When I reread Socrates' "lecture" to Glaucon, I read it with a different outlook. In class before break, I stated that what was in the cave was the truth; the shadows the men saw were of real objects. They were not false, but they were not what exists in reality. When the men step outside the cave into the blinding sunlight, they then begin to perceive reality. Reality is the real truth, if that makes sense. I also used the metaphor in class that doing your math homework is like living in the cave. They are legitamate problems, but not the ones that you will see on the test. The problems you must solve on the test truly tell if you know the material and are the real problems. After thinking about this metaphor again (and visiting my top two colleges), I formulated a new one.
You never truly know what things are like until you actually experience them. It's very similar to life, and choosing a college. (I'll explain the life metaphor first.) When you are little, every thing is peachy keen. Santa brings you presents, along with the Tooth Fairy, and so on. You have no idea what "real world problems" are. You're aware of money, school, and social acceptability, but not to the extent you will have when you become an adult. Being a leader this year at school has "opened my eyes", so to speak, to the reality of many of these things. Things were no longer "shadows" created by the protective "cave" parents put their children in; I walked into the sunlight...which brings me to the college metaphor.
Brochures and virtual tours are great when you begin your college search, but you will never get the sense of the school until you visit-not just take a tour and an info session, but talk to professors, students, and sit in on a class. When you do this, you get a real feel for the school and whether or not it is good for you. Then, when you return home, the pieces of paper they send to you just do not seem to affect you anymore.
When the men return to the cave, like Socrates says they could do, it's similar to returning to the shelter your parents offer or settling for the brochures and pictures of colleges. They seem great, but ignorance is no longer bliss. You can never stop wondering about what is going on in the real world outside of your "cave". When you escape the truth and come to terms with reality, you can never go back.
