A Further Installment to "The Allegory of the Cave"

     Yes, for much of humanity, being alive is similar to being in a cave,
all facing the interior wall, which is covered in the movements of
shadows, the real causes of which are not known to them.
     And a man goes out, because he is dissatisfied with the situation, to
find out what he can discover.
     Over a long period of time, he discovers some of the real causes of
the shadows. And he returns to the cave to inform his fellow humans
of their true nature.
     He tells them what he has found out, and it is so different from
what they think they understand that they flay him alive, remove his
skin, and throw his dead body to the wolves, which, not being shadows,
are real enough.
     A different man, seeing this, resolves to go himself to discover what
is real, and he further resolves never to return to the cave, and, most
important, never to try to inform the others, lest they kill him for it.
     So he goes out, discovers what is true, and he decides, instead of
doing what many would mistakenly think is altruistic charity toward
others of his kind, but which he knows is simply foolish self-sacrifice
for the unappreciated benefit of ignorant others, he chooses to live his
life among the real things as he is capable of understanding them.
     From this he benefits very greatly.
     And the others, whom he left behind in the cave, continue also in
their ways, for they are not capable of bringing themselves to consider
facts as reality itself determines them.
     And he grows to a very old age, learns a lot about how to take care
of himself by focusing on reducing problems, for, when a problem is
resolved adequately well, it ceases to exist and is therefore no longer
a problem.
     And he reviews from time to time one of the most important things
he learned, that sometimes you cannot tell people what they need to
hear, because, if you do, they will hurt you, and, therefore, he completely
forgets about the other men, the ones who because of their ignorant
rejection continue to live in caves.
     A good story should always have a happy ending, and this is one of
the best ones.

by Robert Hampton Burt

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