The allegory of the cave is a profoundly insightful concept. It tells us something fundamental about human nature. Deception is wired in our brains as a survival mechanism. This deception is not limited to other members of the group and predators but also inwardly directed.

It is called a cave for a reason. It has an exit. People can choose light. But they do not. That’s the heart of the idea, in my understanding. The conscious choice to choose the comfort of society over the disconcert of introspection and the exploration beyond a comfort zone.

Therefore, this concept manifests itself in education, politics, psychology, and philosophy. Because, it points towards the idea that divergence is in itself a dangerous quality for a living group. Of course the people who are criminals are at one end of this divergence spectrum. But, on the other end, truly honest and empathetic people also face the same challenge of being ostracised from the social group at large. Martyrdom is respected but not adopted. Altruism is crucial but the people who make the choice of facing the Sun (outside the cave) also face the brunt of the blind darkness when they return.

Being burnt feels better to them than this torturous brunt.

The enlightened faces a dilemma. But it’s not truly a dilemma, if seen from the perspective of this curious wanderer, because he has understood that his purpose is not mere existence and he knows that he cannot reverse to that pattern of fooling himself. He has to curate his own life by entering and exiting the cave systematically. The solution is not black and white, but instead harmonising one’s existence strategically to balance both; this also entails throwing a hail Mary and hoping someone would follow on the same footsteps, or perhaps encountering another such wanderer in the vast, bright forest at some occasion in the voyage.