A Martyr is someone who faces persecution and death (usually by capital punishment or assassination) for advocating ideas which go against the general consensus. These individuals see the Reality of a situation amongst mass delusion. The time following their deaths is usually when people start to think, “Hang on they were a hero and they were onto something there”. Some of the most famous martyrs to ever live include Socrates, Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Ghandi, Harvey Milk, Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr.
Plato’s Theory of Forms
Plato is one of the most prolific thinkers in human history and is synonymous with his teacher, Socrates (who is also one of the most prolific thinkers in history). The Socratic method is a fundamental of Western philosophy and logic.
In 399 AD, Socrates was charged with impiety- the crime of speaking against the gods and “corrupting” Athenian youth in his incitement of young Athenian men into a revolution against Athens’ democracy. He had the options of 1. Leaving Athens 2. Conforming to the Athenian way 3. Paying a fine 4. Simply shutting the fuck up. Socrates was sentenced to death by drinking hemlock because he refused those options and, even then, could have escaped his death. But he stood his ground as Socrates stated that, “If I escape or propose any penalty or fine, however little, it would mean admitting guilt” and he did not want to set a bad precedent for others. Thus, he drank the hemlock and died.
In Plato’s The Republic, he compared life to being a prisoner trapped inside a cave and only being able to watch shadows which were projected onto the cave wall. These shadows were created by a perfect world (a world which is unbeknownst to the ones inside of this cave). The prisoners inside the cave perceive these shadows as reality, for example: if a dog walked past the cave, the prisoners would say the dog’s shadow is what a real dog is because they are not able to see the true dog. The shadows are flawed reflections of ideal forms. One prisoner escapes the cave and sees the world in its true form. Upon returning to the cave, the others all call him “stupid” and “blind” & violently resist the notion that everything they’ve ever known to be true could be wrong.
In episode 4 of Loki, Loki has learnt that the Time Variance Authority is made up of brainwashed people who were torn away from their previous lives and he sets about trying to break the news to his brainwashed friend, Mobius. After being informed by Loki that the TVA is lying to him, Mobius laughs in his face & throws this political criminal into the gulag imprisons him. It is only when Mobius sees physical evidence for himself that he becomes Disillusioned and begins to believe Loki, but even this is short-lived as the two are then “pruned” by judge Renslayer (another victim of TVA brainwashing) for holding such anti-establishment ideologies. Mobius lived in the cave but was set free to see reality and challenge authority which resulted in him being immediately ostracised and murdered.
Simply put, people don’t want to hear it. Ignorance is bliss. This mentality is part of the reason why the United Kingdom is such a mess at the minute. You’ll find that the people who’s lives are most ruined by horrendous political decisions are the ones who claim to not care about politics and probably do not vote. Being open to learning new information is very important when the morally corrupt people in power are thriving because of the sedation of the masses.
When finally confronting the infamous “Timekeepers”, Loki and Sylvie discover that it is all an illusion as the Timekeepers are literal puppets. They are shadows cast onto the walls of Plato’s cave, of which had been worshipped by the TVA agents. This echoes the Wizard of Oz who is presented as a metaphysical and omnipotent being but is actually just a man behind a curtain that gained status through deception. In this same vain, Boris Johnson is a puppet who made it to power with his constant lies and this puppet’s strings get pulled by incredibly rich men & companies.
Plato’s Theory of Forms does not only apply to a socio-political context as it can be taken in literal terms; the world we see may not be the real world. Philosophy was a precursor to science. Philosophy pondered questions about life and the universe for few millennia before science started answering them. Due to this, science still has a long way to go until all of these questions are answered. Personally, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave reminds me of the contemporary debate in physics about whether we live inside a simulation akin to The Matrix or The Sims. This correlation FACINATES me because Plato had no fucking clue what a computer is (for a start) and yet was able to ponder this theory 2000 years before it became a serious scientific debate? Like… what? In my opinion, surely he must have been onto something in that case!
In conclusion, we may be living in a false reality which is orchestrated by our authoritarian political leaders or we are living in a false reality which genuinely does not exist (or both!).
Bantos Blog 