Case Study

Hey mom how have you been? I miss you a lot. Things here have been getting better. I am becoming more familiar with things and getting into a routine. Football is hard but it is a lot of fun. I miss home very much. How is everything there? My classes have been going very well. I am in this very interesting class called CIE. It is a group discussion based class and we learn a lot from each other. Actually the other day we were discussing a very interesting topic. I do not know if you ever have seen the Matrix, but it is amazing how closely it is related to Plato’s, “The Allegory of the Cave.” Long story short, both are discussing whether it is better to live a fake life, but be happy living in ignorance, or know the truth and not be so happy. In the Matrix, Neo has the choice to swallow the red pill and know the truth or swallow the blue pill and continue living a lie, but a happy life in ignorance. I don’t know about you, but I would definitely choose the blue pill and continue living in ignorance. Someone once said ignorance is bliss, and that is very true. Living in ignorance saves you from the possible pain of facing the truth. Before I get your answer, let me give you some background to this very debatable topic of interest.

I believe that it is better to live a life of ignorance as long as you are happy with not knowing the truth. A lot of times we do not like the truth of things when we go searching. Even though I do not agree with his ideas, I have read Socrates and he would have definitely taken the red pill and learned the truth about the world. He believed that you must leave your cave to discover the truth about the world. In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Socrates is talking about how painful the truth is. He talks of people being dragged out of their caves and dragged into the light causing them to have trouble seeing, and resulting in pain. Socrates then says, “Yes…I suppose he would prefer to undergo everything rather than live that way” (Plato line 516E). Socrates is saying he would rather endure the pain of being dragged out of the cave, burn his eyes with the sunlight, and deal with the pain of accepting the truth. He believes very strongly of knowing the truth and believes it is his job to show people the truth. He says, “Then our job as founders…is to compel the best natures to go to study which we were saying before is the greatest, to see the good and to go up that ascent” (Plato line 519D). Socrates is saying it is his job to compel the best people to go see the good or the truth. He is saying it is better to know the truth because he himself has seen the truth and believes that everyone must see it. That is why he considers it his job. His view is wrong though, because not everyone is