Thinking Outside the Box

Both Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and Satre's "No Exit" display the limitations of the human mind and our thinking, and how we often do not want to step outside our private comfort zones to achieve new ways of thinking. With the cave, the prisoners were isolated because of their chains and when one was able to free himself and see the world outside, the others refused to believe him. Comfortable with their ignorant bliss, they chose to keep their chains rather than face the unknown. The characters in "No Exit" were isolated as well and had only what each other and those surrounding them knew as knowledge. If we are ever to evolve oour thinking any higher we must listen to others besides those right next to us and not be afraid to break our chains and think of something differently even if it is uncomfortable.