But, the rewards are always worth it (see my testimonial on experimenting with intermittent fasting).ДЇinally, remember that itвЂ™s not enough to leave the cave.

It takes courage to step outside of your comfort zone and think differently than youвЂ™ve previously done. The more assumptions you question, the less likely youвЂ™ll make bad decisions and errors that could significantly cost you. IвЂ™ve covered one method of doing this based on Elon muskвЂ™s First principles way of thinking. This is a powerful way to develop the skill of thinking for yourself and discovering your own unique solutions to any problem. The key life lesson from PlatoвЂ™s Allegory of the Cave is to question every assumption you have about the reality you call вЂњreal.вЂќ ItвЂ™s simply because theyвЂ™ve made a decision to consistently step outside their comfort zone, face their fears and think in a unique way. ItвЂ™s not because theyвЂ™re better than everyone else that theyвЂ™ve вЂњescaped the caveвЂќ. These people live a life with limitless possibilities and often change the course of history (think Martin Luther King, Steve Jobs, Isaac Newton and so on).

They donвЂ™t have an imagined вЂњshadowвЂќ reality because theyвЂ™ve stepped outside their comfort zone into the вЂњsunshineвЂќ to uncover the true reality of life. This represents the small handful of people who dare to think and act in a different way from the crowd. What about the personВ whoВ escaped the cave? Unfortunately, thinking like this often leads to a life of missed opportunities and mediocrity because youвЂ™d never realise how much more of reality actually existed outside the вЂњcave.вЂќ These are generally the ideas and social norms that weвЂ™ve been told to stick to from childhood because of the majority consensus. The cave people believed that the shadows they saw were the вЂњtruth,вЂќ just like majority of the world who believe in and pursue shadows based on money, education, fame, love and so on. The best way to learn from PlatoвЂ™s Allegory of the Cave, is to think of the people trapped in the cave as majority of people in the world. This is a basic explanation of the PlatoвЂ™s Allegory of the Cave, but this TED video explains it betterвЂ¦ PlatoвЂ™s Allegory of the Cave Summary PlatoвЂ™s Allegory of the Cave explores the tension between the imagined reality that we think is вЂњrealвЂќ (shadows) versus the reality that is the вЂњtruthвЂќ (outside the cave). Now, if he returned back to the cave and told them about what he saw, theyвЂ™d probably laugh at him and think he was crazy. In this Allegory, Socrates asks, what would he think of his companions back in the cave? HeвЂ™d probably feel sorry for them and their limited reality. He can now finally see the вЂњtrueвЂќ forms, shapes and reality of the shadows he thought were real. Now imagine that one of the prisonerвЂ™s leaves the cave and walks outside into the sunshine.ДЇor the first time in his life, he is exposed to sunshine and light. For them, these shadows are real and they shape their entire reality. They are in it from childhood with their legs and necks in bonds so that they are fixed, seeing only in front of them, unable because of the bond to turn their head all the way around.вЂќД®very day, these people in the caves watched shadows projected on a blank wall. вЂњSee human beings as though they were in an underground cave-like dwelling with its entrance, a long one, open to the light across the whole width of the cave. In PlatoвЂ™s, The Republic (book), he writes: The вЂњAllegory of the CaveвЂќ begins with a scene painted of a group of prisoners who have lived chained to the wall of a dark cave their entire lives.

Over 2,000 years ago, Plato, one of historyвЂ™s most famous thinkers, explored these questions in his famous вЂњ Allegory of the CaveвЂќ (audiobook)-Book VII of the Republic. What is reality? Does your reality really exist? вЂњIn a time of universal deceit вЂ“ telling the truth is a revolutionary act.вЂќ

The cave soundtrack