Socrates, Caves, and Multidimensional Aliens
Throughout the ages, many have sought the eternal truths espoused by great philosophers of the classical period, especially Plato and Socrates. Their wisdom, as well as Socrates’ various insights on the nature of man and the universe, continue to shape the way we interpret the world around us, and its many mysteries.
But what might Socrates or Plato have known in their lifetimes about alien beings? Well, with regard to the kinds of aliens you or I might think of (or more specifically, the kinds that would be the likely subject of a blog for UFO Magazine), probably very little! Still, Socrates and Plato did provide some of the earliest written insights into the metaphysical nature of the world which might pertain to our modern concept of where aliens are from, and how they may interact with us on a multi-dimensional level.
Socrates, by all intent and purposes, seemed to be a testy ole fella by the time Plato got around to studying with him. He didn’t like the way that people perceived his teachings as “corruption” of his young students, which included Plato, nor did he care for people who relied too heavily on their senses when it came to the way they perceived the world around them. In fact, these individuals, who Socrates called “ea a-mousoi” (basically meaning “those without the muses”) were likened to being people who would struggle throughout life without “divine inspiration” of sorts.
Socrates’ frustration with this one-dimensional view of the cosmos was best illustrated in his “allegory of the cave”, where he compares human perception of reality to mere shadows cast on a wall within a cave by light from the “real world” outside. As described in the Republic, people who are content to perceive the mere shadow of true reality are “living pitifully in a den of evil and ignorance.” Those brave enough to climb from the cave and perceive the world around them “not only have a terrible struggle to attain the heights, but when they go back down for a visit or to help other people up, they find themselves objects of scorn and ridicule.”
This seems to be much the same case today, especially when trying to interpret the unexplained. For instance, rather than to look “closer to home” for a point of origin, it seems more rational to believe that aliens travel here to Earth from someplace else; most likely distant planets in the furthest reaches of outer space, due to the way their technology appears so much more advanced than our own (and not to say that it isn’t, mind you).
But the problem with this argument seems to be why aliens, of all places, would be interested in coming here? With the trouble you and I have getting around using gas these days here on Terra Firma (don’t get me started on that one…), I don’t find it difficult so much as I find it against the universal laws of economics that aliens would spend all that effort on getting here, even with advanced technology like mercury combustion engines and EMG accelerators, just to cut up a few cattle and play hide-and-go-seek with our most clandestine military aircraft.
I’ve seen this same question of “why here” pop up on various forums over the years (here’s a link to one such thread), and have even come across great suggestions as to “why”, which include the immortal words of singer Perry Farrell in his song of the same title: “We’d Make Great Pets.” Sounds as good as any excuse I could muster!
But looking back to Socrates’ allegory of the cave, what if the way we perceive the aliens and their technology is only “the shadow” in this instance? What if, as has also been suggested by speculative physicists already for decades, these crafts with all their maneuverability are actually capable of travelling through space in ways that “bend” the laws of physics in ways we don’t yet understand? What if our aliens don’t operate according to physics in any way that would be recognizable to us at all? If this great “secret” technology were so accessible to them, that is, the ability to “shift” into our state of being with more ease (and less time) than it would take to travel here from Zeta II Reticuli, then might the idea of aliens dropping by to visit be more acceptable? Perhaps in this manner, and in a fundamental way, classical Greek philosophers like Socrates and Plato were capable of comprehending these strange aspects of reality very well; and maybe in some ways better than you and I!
This is only one piece of the pie, of course; and before I get accused of contradicting myself by those of you who read my other blog, The Gralien Report, allow me to put this in perspective with regard my topic over there from earlier today, which had to do with highly sensationalized 1940s era tales of aliens living in caverns beneath the earth. If we REALLY wanted a good explanation as to why aliens would be visiting us so regularly in the first place, we’d have to assume they were already here, and as suggested by researchers like Timothy Green Beckley and Ivan Sanderson, perhaps the answer to the UFO mystery doesn’t lie in the heavens above, but rather, below our city streets in the cavernous depths of the inner-earth. If anything, this may put a very literal spin on Socrates’ “allegory of the cave”!
-Micah A. Hanks
Micah
24 Comments
Reader Comments (24)
Fantastic post!
Really liked the new one over at the Gralien Report too.
Hopefully this will incite others, especially our younger generation, to read some of the philosophy of Socrates and Plato.
Very informative post.Thanks.
Jim
Very nice, Sir, in fact a call to individuals wondering what's outside the box imposed by a niggardly science.
Socrates and Plato knew there was more to aggregate existence than Aristotle had the intellectual courage to allow for, verily. We've been ham-strung by Aristotle to a degree... only...
Isn't it Plato's allegory?
http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/cave.htm
Excellent piece!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's a "syndrome" I've discovered, an incubated CSICOP cover. It promotes what people "see" as "misinformed insanity"!
Folks are "crazy," "misdirected," or "bilked" by cheats and thieves "detected"!
These cads deny vast "space" and "time," the "odds", "reports" —and all my rhyme— to seal themselves within that bottle proposed by errant Aristotle!
...
Very good article. And there's certainly enough evidence to suggest these so-called aliens have been around for ages. So, if we accept that, then we have to ponder their motivation and purpose. Genetic manipulation, etc.
There are the USOs being seen off the Catalina Island, the "Dragon's Triangle" (Japan), etc. One way to get these aliens attention might be to drop a seriously large depth charge that could explode in the deep depths. Then, watch out... :-)
Good one Micah!
As you may or may not know, I am all for "Outside the Box" thinking. The more one ponders the parameters of consciousness and quantum physics, the more one must come to the conclusion that our culturally formulated descriptions of reality are not just inadequate, but completely spurious.
If matter is a mirage (as quantum data suggest), then rational materialism is a philosophy built on an illusion. Our science and our culture depend on reality being "real" when all is just shadows on a cave wall. So, what does that say about purported beings flitting in and out of our collective mirage? Are they mirages too? Are we their mirages? Are their and our mirages having illicit relations with each other?
Whether the allegory was Plato's or Socrates', it is apt. We would do well to stop being sucked in by those dancing shadows and see if we can have a look at what illumination is casting them on the wall. That illumination is the only REAL thing we posess - our consciousness. Matter is for charlatans, posers and the delusional. Wiser people look to consciousness for any possible apprehension of that elusive animal we call "truth".
Know thyself or know nothing at all....
Cheers!!
Mike
Thank you Mike! You are very eloquent with words, my friend. I always enjoy your comments and analysis!
In fact, I'm enjoying every one of these replies... thanks guys!
-Micah
P.S. And just for those who may be interested... Plato was indeed the one who wrote of the "allegory of the cave" in The Republic. However, when reading this classical text, notice that it is Socrates who actually dictates it, since Plato's writings took the form of dialogues in which Socrates was most often the primary speaker:
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/allegory.html
You're welcome Micah! This is an excellent and thought provoking posting. Kudos! :o)
Mike
Very interesting: I believe there are many spieces of aliens, and they have great interest in us, because of our dna. I think their knowledge and interest in genetics have gone past certain boundaries, and I feel that their own dna has lost certain integraties, because of their lust for power. I think our dna is very important to them, and abductions have been going on for eon's for that very reason. Perhaps one day, we will find all the answers. It can't come to soon! Melba
I do not type very well but I shall attempt to put forth my ? & or comment with all of the sattelites orbiting our rock in the universe why is it that nobody seems to wonder or ask the ? of would'nt we have clear proof or i say wuold it ot be easy to obtain video of the coming & going of any craft to & from earth just a thought!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very - very impressive! Now this stimulates the thought processes....
This should very much encourage everyone to once again study
Socrates and his sage philosophy...
Plato wrote The allegory of the Cave, Not Socrates.
I think you hit the nail on the head with your post. We have so much invested in this reality (shadows on the cave wall) that we find it next to impossible to tear ourselves away from this dance of light and shadow. Video games demonstrate this addiction very well. The one class of humans that seems to be less invested in this false reality are children. Up to the ages of investment, which is about 5 years old. They always seem more aware that something is casting the shawdows. Waking up is hard to do.
Why us :
I've noticed that the accounts of many people reporting these encounters, resemble the same kind of procedures that our own scientist perform. From anthropologists studying primitive natives to the many different sciences studying every conceivable form of flora and fauna. For example, when we capture, chart, and then release our own animal subjects, it's in the pursuit of knowledge.
Why here:
Why not? Why do we go to the Galapagos Islands to study the iguanas or marine turtles. Because that's where they live. Why do we spend billions of bucks sending probes to scratch and sniff Mars, again the pursuit of knowledge...Just a thought.;)
Micah A. Hanks wrote: "This is only one piece of the pie, of course; and before I get accused of contradicting myself by those of you who read my other blog, The Gralien Report, allow me to put this in perspective with regard my topic over there from earlier today, which had to do with highly sensationalized 1940s era tales of aliens living in caverns beneath the earth. If we REALLY wanted a good explanation as to why aliens would be visiting us so regularly in the first place, we’d have to assume they were already here, and as suggested by researchers like Timothy Green Beckley and Ivan Sanderson, perhaps the answer to the UFO mystery doesn’t lie in the heavens above, but rather, below our city streets in the cavernous depths of the inner-earth. If anything, this may put a very literal spin on Socrates’ “allegory of the cave”! "
Marian visions have occured in/near grottos. Faerie (and other pagan beings) were seen in the same areas before they were Christianized.
If these are 'aliens' and interdimensional, they could be a part of Earth as much as we are, but in a profoundly different way.
Along with Sanderson and Beckley -Aimee Michele, Jacques Vallee and John Keel have pondered "ultra-terrestrials".
I've thought the way most UFOs seem to blink out or disappear was indicative of going in and out of our reality/dimension, as opposed to an acceleration process that we can't see.
And I remember in the Budd Hopkins book Missing Time, when an abductee asked his abductors where they were from, the telepathic response was 'from here, but we can't stay here'(not an exact quote but very close; I don't have the book at hand).
Ummmm If memory serves me correctly, I think the "Cave" allegory is from Plato, not Socrates... But your meaning is well taken... Thanks!!
There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance
A planet of play things
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
'The stars aren't aligned
Or the gods are malign...
Blame is better to give than receive ( Neil Peart )
Why we are here ? The problem with being human is that we do indeed have limited senses from our very design. I don’t think I will ever find out that question or even need to know the answer to. This is why Socrates, Plato and all the others cannot answer the reason why we are all here. We want to know more that the sum of our capabilities is able to comprehend.
I myself am perplexed and cannot answer how existence existed in the first place.
My logical mind would be happy to think that everything adds up to nothing and it is just taking its time to get there. That is the beauty of the universe that it is just there. We are forced to play with the cards we are dealt with.
As for aliens, they do exist as we ourselves are evidence that there is plenty of life in the universe. Logically, they have been here for a long time due to the vast distances and age of the universe. I am sure that they have a vested interest in us in some way or another.
However, one thing is for sure, don’t you think that it is a bit odd that we have evolved exponentially over the last few thousand years . Given the millions of years in earths history and millennium of running around with clubs in our hands – WHY NOW ???
What an exiting time to live in indeed.
Even worse, given the way we have massacred fellow humans over and over again and have the potential to press a button and wipe out most of the life in this planet means that they share no compassion towards us or our future. How many children have they witnessed dying of diseases that today are so easily curable to us. This is definitely a reflection of the true nature of the Aliens track record so far - that is not good news for us or the universe in general.
Perhaps Socrates missed the point about the need to perceive the world and rise above our own den of evil and ignorance. The evidence seems to prove that this cannot be achieved even by races far more advanced than us. The real struggle through life is realizing we have the divine inspiration of compassion and having the courage to use it on eachother.
What is with Socrates' tail in the picture? I never knew he had a tail. And why do pictures from this time always show people with such dainty feet?
Cosmic Clarence,
Again if they are studying us, like we study other life forms, they may be no better than we are. In how many nature shows have we seen predators, diseases, or even a sticky mud hole take out a baby zebra, or those baby turtles that get picked off as they head for the ocean while the scientists and filmmakers stand around saying "how fascinating" and "it's all part of natural selection/survival of the fittest" etc.
Yes, I believe they are much more like us than we want to admit.
.
Yes we may be like fish in a bowl,...I believe that aliens are here in our bowl as well. I just wonder if they will be revealed in our lifetime.
We have seen an increase in U.F.O.'s lately it seems like,Maybe we are all being conditioned to accept them later and not freak out. I want to know why they are coming over here too. Hopefully soon we will all learn the truth.
You know what they say...be careful what you wish for.
Cosmic Clarence,
You say: "Even worse, given the way we have massacred fellow humans over and over again and have the potential to press a button and wipe out most of the life in this planet means that they share no compassion towards us or our future. How many children have they witnessed dying of diseases that today are so easily curable to us. This is definitely a reflection of the true nature of the Aliens track record so far - that is not good news for us or the universe in general."
Your answer to this assertion is in the quote from the Rush lyric you posted:
There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance
A planet of play things
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
'The stars aren't aligned
Or the gods are malign...
Blame is better to give than receive ( Neil Peart )
The last line is your answer. It is so much easier to live with ourselves when we blame others for our own shortcomings. If you want to know why we are here, you can spend thousands of lifetimes trying to "figure" it out.
Or, we can accept the challenge that our dysfunctional cultural and social memes scream to us every day of our delusional lives: get right with the world and our fellow humans. We are all but manifestations of the one force anyway - humanity, god, the quantum matrix, whatever you want to call it.
So, why do we insist on blowing it all apart? Answer that and your answer to the big question will become irrelevant because then you will "be" the answer. WE are the ones we have been waiting for......
Mike
"That's right, Mr Good... the tough answers to tougher questions aren't sought or even found... they are faced."
alienview@roadrunner.com
> www.AlienView.net
>> AVG Blog -- http://alienviewgroup.blogspot.com/
>>> U F O M a g a z i n e -- www.ufomag.com
I have often thought that the 'aliens' (if only a few of them) are 'us' in the future who have found worm holes to travel back in time. It could be that 'our' visits are meant to keep us from becoming too self centered resulting in our own human extinction, and to awaken our understanding that we are part of a much bigger universal community. I have had this feeling for a long time but if we were capable of forewarning ourselves wouldn't this have an effect on future events, including these same visitations? Could we be trying to warn ourselves of a future world event,that will somehow effect humanity? An asteroid, or some other natural phenomena? I have to think about this more. I just know 'we' are involved somehow. What do you think?