[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.44,0:00:10.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What is reality, knowledge,\Nthe meaning of life?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.93,0:00:13.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Big topics you might tackle figuratively
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.25,0:00:18.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,explaining existence as a journey \Ndown a road or across an ocean,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.20,0:00:25.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a climb, a war, a book, a thread, a game,\Na window of opportunity,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.34,0:00:28.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or an all-too-short-lived \Nflicker of flame.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.01,0:00:30.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,2,400 years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.85,0:00:36.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of history's famous thinkers said\Nlife is like being chained up in a cave,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.26,0:00:39.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,forced to watch shadows \Nflitting across a stone wall.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.72,0:00:41.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pretty cheery, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.36,0:00:45.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's actually what Plato suggested\Nin his Allegory of the Cave,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.50,0:00:47.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,found in Book VII of "The Republic,"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.92,0:00:51.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which the Greek philosopher\Nenvisioned the ideal society
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.52,0:00:56.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by examining concepts \Nlike justice, truth and beauty.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.15,0:01:01.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the allegory, a group of prisoners\Nhave been confined in a cavern since birth,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.03,0:01:03.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with no knowledge of the outside world.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.61,0:01:07.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They are chained, facing a wall,\Nunable to turn their heads,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.37,0:01:10.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while a fire behind them\Ngives off a faint light.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.42,0:01:13.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Occasionally, people pass by the fire,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.26,0:01:18.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,carrying figures of animals and other objects\Nthat cast shadows on the wall.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.48,0:01:21.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The prisoners name \Nand classify these illusions,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.47,0:01:23.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,believing they're perceiving\Nactual entities.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.90,0:01:28.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Suddenly, one prisoner is freed\Nand brought outside for the first time.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.00,0:01:33.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The sunlight hurts his eyes and he finds\Nthe new environment disorienting.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.53,0:01:35.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When told that the things \Naround him are real,`
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.93,0:01:39.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while the shadows were mere reflections,\Nhe cannot believe it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.90,0:01:42.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The shadows appeared much clearer to him.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.44,0:01:45.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But gradually, his eyes adjust
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.22,0:01:47.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,until he can look \Nat reflections in the water,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.70,0:01:49.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at objects directly,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.40,0:01:51.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and finally at the Sun,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.67,0:01:55.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whose light is the ultimate source\Nof everything he has seen.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.57,0:01:59.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The prisoner returns to the cave\Nto share his discovery,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.28,0:02:01.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but he is no longer used to the darkness,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.63,0:02:05.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and has a hard time \Nseeing the shadows on the wall.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.80,0:02:09.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The other prisoners think the journey\Nhas made him stupid and blind,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.91,0:02:13.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and violently resist \Nany attempts to free them.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.88,0:02:16.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plato introduces this passage\Nas an analogy
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.83,0:02:21.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of what it's like to be a philosopher\Ntrying to educate the public.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.27,0:02:24.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Most people are not just comfortable\Nin their ignorance
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.50,0:02:28.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but hostile to anyone who points it out.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.20,0:02:32.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, the real life Socrates\Nwas sentenced to death
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.03,0:02:35.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the Athenian government \Nfor disrupting the social order,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.30,0:02:38.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and his student Plato \Nspends much of "The Republic"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.36,0:02:40.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,disparaging Athenian democracy,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.80,0:02:44.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while promoting rule by philosopher kings.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.23,0:02:45.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With the cave parable,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.87,0:02:50.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plato may be arguing that the masses\Nare too stubborn and ignorant
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.11,0:02:52.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to govern themselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.05,0:02:56.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the allegory has captured\Nimaginations for 2,400 years
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.22,0:02:59.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it can be read in far more ways.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.30,0:03:03.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Importantly, the allegory is connected\Nto the theory of forms,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.21,0:03:05.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,developed in Plato's other dialogues,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.55,0:03:07.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which holds that \Nlike the shadows on the wall,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.98,0:03:12.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,things in the physical world are flawed\Nreflections of ideal forms,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.86,0:03:16.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,such as roundness, or beauty.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.05,0:03:19.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this way, the cave leads to many\Nfundamental questions,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.72,0:03:21.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including the origin of knowledge,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.81,0:03:23.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the problem of representation,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.96,0:03:27.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the nature of reality itself.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.16,0:03:31.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For theologians, the ideal forms\Nexist in the mind of a creator.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.98,0:03:35.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For philosophers of language\Nviewing the forms as linguistic concepts,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.02,0:03:39.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the theory illustrates the problem\Nof grouping concrete things
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.60,0:03:41.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,under abstract terms.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.84,0:03:44.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And others still wonder whether\Nwe can really know
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.55,0:03:49.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the things outside the cave\Nare any more real than the shadows.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.14,0:03:50.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As we go about our lives,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.52,0:03:53.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can we be confident \Nin what we think we know?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.45,0:03:54.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perhaps one day,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.66,0:03:58.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a glimmer of light may punch a hole\Nin your most basic assumptions.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.84,0:04:01.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Will you break free to struggle\Ntowards the light,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.23,0:04:03.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even if it costs you \Nyour friends and family,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.93,0:04:07.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or stick with comfortable\Nand familiar illusions?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.38,0:04:10.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Truth or habit? Light or shadow?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.78,0:04:14.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hard choices, but if it's any consolation,\Nyou're not alone.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.82,0:04:17.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are lots of us down here.