Plato, The Matrix, and Spaghetti Sauce

After reading and understanding Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, one can examine almost any facet of life via Socrates' discussion with Glaucon. Relationships, government, media, politics, and education are just a few areas of the human experience which indeed have puppeteers, prisoners, shadows, truth, and choices as main players that reflect Plato’s allegory. In each of these “real world” situations, we have opportunities to accept a currently viewed “reality” without question, or take the time and effort to view different perspectives that may reveal a different reality or truth than the one originally perceived. Often the journey which leads to embracing new perspectives, realities, and truths is uncomfortable; indeed, one may avoid pain and discomfort by choosing to remain chained and accepting of the shadow world one has been shown.

In the following scene from The Matrix, the Warshawski brothers masterfully retell Plato’s allegory via science fiction. The scene begins with Morpheus offering Neo the choice to find out what the matrix is and ending with Neo “rebirth” into the “real world.” Neo, not unlike those enslaved in Plato’s allegory, is imprisoned along with millions of others by a high tech pod system. His “chains” are actually attached to his body as he lies passively in a vegetative state, viewing the “shadows” of what he only thinks is the reality of his life. As “prisoners” who have already escaped the bondage of the Matrix, Morpheus and his team offer Neo an opportunity to escape his shadow life in order to know the truth. The choice is a tough one, from which there is no return. The pain, discomfort, and disorientation Neo feels during his transition from bondage to the real world is not unlike the the “pain” and “anger” and disbelief of the freed prisoner of the Cave Socrates describes.




While there are lots of “real world” applications to be gleaned and studied from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Malcolm Gladwell presents the story of Howard Moskowitz at the TED, Ideas Worth Spreading conference.




As you listen to Malcolm Gladwell tell Howard Moskowitz’s story, think of how this narrative reflects the realities of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

Gladwell = Socrates
Glaucon = us, the audience
Howard Moskowitz = a freed slave returning to the cave to present others with a new truth
Various corporations (Pepsi, Ragu, Prego, etc) = the enslaved viewing shadows on the cave wall
The Advertising Industry = the puppeteers




Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books:
Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Difference
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Outliers: The Secret to Success