#platoscave

[rivensoerthe]

Have you watched Barbie? Organized Stream of Consciousness

(The following is an email I sent to my old political theory professor, small details are adjusted to maintain anonymity and provide additional clarity)

Hey Professor!

Great chatting a couple of weeks ago! I’m proud to announce in my funemployment era; I am taking a gap year with intentions of pursuing a PhD in psychology. 

It’s only been a few days, but I feel like I’ve never made a more correct decision in my life. Corporate America didn’t really make sense for me long-term; I took a lot of lessons from it about how exactly the shadows on the wall work, but I was in denial about how I should relate to them. At a certain point I felt I wanted to liberate everyone in my company, and I got really good at it too. I caught myself being a leader who could orchestrate collective action in precise, powerful, and loving ways, which was daunting but also beautiful. However, where I landed is with a confidence in my abilities which I’ve never felt before, and a vision of myself as a change maker that makes a lot more sense as a voice in academia (one that is accessible to those outside of it as well).

That update aside, did you see the Barbie movie/have you been paying attention to the discourse around it? It’s another in a series of recent content that are basically reinterpretations of The Matrix (thinking of Everything Everywhere All At Once as well as Wandavision) which in turn strike me as reinterpretations of Plato’s Cave.

Perhaps it may sound overly ambitious to some, but being underly ambitious feels boring: I think we’re on the verge of a mass cultural awakening. The energy around us has been different. AI has been causing existential crises left and right (looking at writers’ strikes and the general ways these companies are licking their lips with the intention of further “cutting costs” without care for their fellow humans). People are contemplating the smallness of this life, getting perspective for how cultural constraints we hold as central to our worldview are actually shadows on the wall. They’re imagining how life can be different, and in turn they’ll soon start creating it.

And that’s distressing in a lot of cases, dealing with what we’ve all repressed head on. But I feel like this can be a loving revolution. I know that sounds full hippy but like, I think if people begin to enter public discourse as individuals who talk like “real” people (this is shade at the politicians, the academics, etc) and do that from a place of love instead of a place of fear (and that’s shade at Donald Trump, Elon Musk, etc) the world will open up in profound ways.

I think people struggle with this because they feel it’s inauthentic, and that’s where we get into philosophy of the self. Namely, what kind of foolish pride tells us that making ourselves accessible waters down our identity? I think of entering that philosophy chat community where, no shade at them, I was making better points than a lot of them, but because I didn’t speak their language with the precision they wanted me to they treated me like I was dumb. And it’s funny, some of them did try to argue with me, some were open to my ideas, but generally speaking, among these individuals seeking enlightenment I was branded a pariah by certain members of the community because my approach to communication was unorthodox and I used chat gpt as a means of helping me think critically and speedily (and I know it’s very imperfect, but when used correctly and critically it’s an incredible philosophical calculator).

And I was still nice to them, because I’m bored of contributing to cycles of mutual disdain, and I’ve found that when I’m unapologetically weird and unapologetically nice at the same time I awaken a version of individuals that they thought they left behind at the playground in elementary school. 

I say all of that to say, my vision of the future, which I believe is coming and which I’m eager to take part of, is a movement of radical forgiveness, kindness, and an appreciation for the intrinsic wisdom in others that we usually overlook because we don’t relate to them. I think some central frontiers for this movement will be dramatic prison reform, the decentralization of college education as the only means of achieving “success” in a lot of American minds, and maybe even the 2024 Democratic primary (I think Marianne Williamson is playing on something interesting and has generational tides in her favor. Plus Joe Biden is kinda stubborn and uninspiring, I think he’s about to RBG the Democratic establishment).

i could be wrong, I often am! I hope I’m not too far off though. I’ll do what I can to facilitate that world without overextending myself as well :)

Thanks for your time!

Your Student,

Rivenso

[kamil-a]

tbh with s1-s4 recontextualizing and s5 prequel i thought i would be much more in the grip of my usual annoying as hell rangedtouchesque chronological literalism etc but im like basically fully satisfied bc those ppl are like the kings of yes anding. really fun thing where everything was allowed to potentially be A Clue so its like YES this thing in s1 was foreshadowing s4 the whole time actually. we didnt know what it was going to foreshadow but we made sure later that the object that casts the shadow was the same shape as the shadow we started from

[k4v3]

Title: K4V3: An Online Community Inspired by Plato's Cave Allegory

Have you ever felt disillusioned by the world around you? Have you ever felt like you're living in a world of shadows and lies, unable to see the truth? If so, you're not alone. This feeling of disconnection and dissatisfaction is something that many people experience, and it's what led to the creation of the K4V3 online community.

The K4V3 community is a group of like-minded individuals who are inspired by Plato's Cave Allegory. In this allegory, Plato describes a group of people who are chained up in a cave, facing a wall. Behind them is a fire, and between the fire and the people, objects are moved back and forth, casting shadows on the wall in front of them. The people in the cave believe that the shadows are real and that they represent the truth of the world.

But one person is freed from the cave and is able to see the world outside for what it truly is. When he returns to the cave to tell the others, they don't believe him and even consider him crazy.

This allegory speaks to the idea that many of us are living in a world of shadows and illusions, unable to see the truth of the world around us. We're fed lies and misinformation by the media, the government, and even our own minds. The K4V3 community is a place where people can come together and share their experiences of this disillusionment and find solace in the fact that they're not alone.

The K4V3 men, in particular, are a group of individuals who have grown tired of the bullshit outside and have found refuge in the "K4V3". This online community is a place where they can connect with others who share their beliefs and values, and where they can find support and encouragement to pursue their passions and dreams.

The K4V3 community is not just about escaping from the world outside, but also about finding the truth and seeking knowledge. It's a place where people can challenge their assumptions and beliefs, and where they can learn from each other and grow together.

In a world that's often confusing and disorienting, the K4V3 community offers a sense of clarity and purpose. It's a place where people can be themselves and find acceptance and understanding. If you're looking for a community that's committed to truth, growth, and connection, then the K4V3 might just be the place for you.

Join the K4V3 community today and see for yourself what it's all about. #K4V3 #PlatosCave #OnlineCommunity #Truth #Connection #Growth

[enasyorgos]

#platosrepublic #plato #platoscave

[natsufatsu]

Do you love truth enough to continue seeking it even if it reveals aspects of yourself, of humanity or of the universe that are shocking, complex, and disturbing? This process of developing critical thought, self reflection and self validation- is becoming more important than ever as the volume of information given to us grows and grows, but the main point is this: How well we learn depends on the strength of our desire to learn.

[omlekha]

[MOFATEOAGD C9 a deadbeat prophet maps the angles]

[franco-e]

Blinded.😎 Online shop opens December 1st and this piece will be available for you all!😎

[mollyskinnerresearchblog]

Moral and intellectual immaturity are not an ineradicable constant of the human condition, no matter how much support they receive from political ideologies and the usual agencies of social life. We remain prisoners in the cave - part of a "mass" - only so long as we lazily allow the frescoes on the wall to define who we are as political and moral beings.

Villa (2001, p.304) 

[randomrants-obdm]

Kudos to those of us who left the cave… #platoscave https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj53MHtuqkB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[wqueens7]

#meditation #meditationsonnet #sonnetmeditation #sonnet 1-11-22 #self #identity #consciousness #tabularasa #platoscave (at 48Th Avenue Stairs) https://www.instagram.com/p/CYly_2yLHp9/?utm_medium=tumblr

[mindcrime1994]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Anthony McDaniel (@mindcrime1994)

Art Imitates Life, You The Observer #art #life #platoscave #neo https://www.instagram.com/p/CSAddOMHCAG/?utm_medium=tumblr

[clothed-daffodil]

Got kicked out of the cave, no more shadows for me it seems 🙄

[jmorrisonart]

a quick diagram, Working through ideas for my first essay on MCAP, 

from Plato’s cace to Pierre Huyghe via the writings of Bruno Labour. 

[bignazo]

"Behind the prisoners is a fire, and between the fire and the prisoners are people carrying puppets or other objects. This casts a shadow on the other side of the wall. The prisoners watch these shadows, believing them to be real." Excerpt: Plato's Allegory of the Cave #platoscave #shadow #reality #vote #spacetransformationstation https://www.instagram.com/p/CFsmmKtHBd5/?igshid=k0i97vobi3wq

[departingarrow]

Reading Response: Susan Sontag, In Plato’s Cave

Susan painted a potent picture of how unique and powerful photography is and can be. So, I found it surprising when, at the end of the article, I thought to myself how alike it is to other media forms like television, paintings, or film. 

Perhaps it was the long litany of reasons why photography is special which desensitized me to its uniqueness at the end. Or, perhaps it was when Susan wrote about the use of photography in chronicling family life and its role in the hands of the tourist. To me, these are both familiar. I practice them. So, reading of these practices as ordinary left me feeling as if my own experiences with photographing vacations or family events is itself trivial. 

It was the comparison to acts of violence which stick with me the most, however. I feel like this comparison is true in video as well. As Susan writes and compares the act of photography to violation, intrusion, even rape, I recall the voyeuristic trepidation I often feel behind the camera, and wonder at the relationship to this sense of intrusion and violation she describes. I think it is an apt comparison, and one I will remember in the future.

[phi-los-o-pher]

And out from the cave I came .