Thinking Outside the Box

Both Plato and Sartre have their focus on our limited knowledge of what is "out there" but differ in their ideas about what it is that prevents us from learning about it. Plato believes that it is outside forces that prevent our full understanding.  The 'controlled' environment that is presented at school or work or even the filters that are put in place by search engines such as Google and Yahoo and the advertisements that are presented to you on Facebook.  In "Allegory of the Cave", the cave and the chains restrict what the people see.  On the other hand, Sartre suggests that what we don't know is our own fault.  It's our own fear of what is "out there" that prevents us from seeking it. In "No Exit" even when the door is opened the people are still terrified to leave. 

To overcome these barriers we need to break free from the cave and the chains to learn about what is really out there. We need to understand that what we know isn't all there is to know.  And most importantly we need to have an open mind and not fear the things that we don't know or fully understand.