This is my final blog post for my Animal Planet class. One might think after being exposed to all of the horrific ways that humans exploit animals, I would be depressed. Rather, it's the contrary. On the last day of class, one of my classmates stated that learning all of this information makes her feel more complete. As horrible and saddening as parts of what goes on in the world are, it makes us feel enlightened. As I told my boyfriend of this thought, he reminded me of the most fundamental reading of an integrated social science and humanities class we took in high school: Allegory of the Cave.
In Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", humans are chained inside of a cave, damned to look at a wall dancing with shadows cast from the light of the real world. The humans witness second hand what is happening because they can only see the shadows, they can't see what is actually happening. One of the humans is able to break free from the chains holding him captive. He ventures to the outside world and is blinded by the intense light. As he adjusts to the brightness of the outside, he sees what is actually happening rather than the shadows of the truth. He no longer is condemned to only see parts of the whole - he can now learn and engage with the world.
I feel like I have broken free from the chains and stepped out of the cave. I have been exposed to so much in this Animal Planet class that at times it has been overwhelming, just like the blinding light. It was difficult to adjust my eyes at first, since I had not been exposed to this type of material before. Luckily, I had already been exposed to interdisciplinary thinking in the class I mentioned earlier, otherwise the light would have been so much brighter. But as far as the issues surrounding the treatment of animals and the role that they play in our society, I was definitely enlightened. Not enlightened in that everything I learned was perfect and I now know the truth. Not at all. What I learned was that everything can be looked at in a different light - a positive light, a negative light, a neutral light, and all of the lights in between, spanning the full spectrum.
A certain thought has occurred to me over and over again while journeying through this class: What if we saw everything, every aspect of the world, through the lens of an advocate? What if we saw the good and the bad through a supportive paradigm? Wouldn't we see people in a different light, animals in a different light, ideas in a different light? What if the blinding light that the ex cave dwellers experienced was shown in different colors? This reminds me of a current topic I'm studying for my chemistry final...wavelengths and light (I knew I would be able to relate chemistry somehow).
Take one particular event. They exit the cave and see the word ANIMALS like it's on a billboard or a movie title up in lights. Then all at once the light blinds them - but this time it's not white light as a whole, but all the colors that make up the white light. It's red and orange and blue and green. Every wavelength, every different color is an argument - an argument in favor of some issue, however abstract, relating to animals. They see a light advocating for slaughterhouses, people have to eat somehow - and simultaneously see the opposite light advocating for veganism. They see the light advocating for pet ownership and immediately see the light advocating for euthanasia and also the light advocating for no animal companionship.
One may think the problem with this is that there's always an opposite, someone opposing the advocate. That's not the problem, that's the beauty. If you are only exposed to an issue through the lens of an advocate, chances are you may be more likely to support that side. If you simultaneously, or even afterward, see that same issue through the lens of someone advocating for the opposite, your alliances may change. Eventually, after seeing everything, every side of an issue, through the lens of an advocate, you can see the full complexity of the world.
In this class, I felt as thought I have not only seen the issues surrounding animals through the lens of an advocate, but also the antithesis. We have read a variety of pieces. However, it's just the beginning. There's so much left to learn, and I will never be done - not just regarding animals but everything else as well.
But what happens when I want to return to my original dwelling, to reenter my former abode still occupied by the chained humans that have only seen the shadows of what I have seen? In the "Allegory of the Cave", the "enlightened" experiences severe resistance to the knowledge and wisdom. After all, the chained up humans don't know any better. They can't imagine the outside world - like trying to imagine life on land if you've only ever known the sea. It's only possible if you go there and directly experience it, if you go there and are blinded by the spectrum of wavelengths that make up the continuous white light.
Furthermore, why would I ever want to return after being exposed to such a broad range of ideas, those different lights, that make up this thing I now call knowledge? Because we must recognize, I must recognize, that the whole of my life will consist of me stepping out of the cave time and time again. I am human, flawed and incomplete and have an infinite amount left to learn and experience. I will never harness all of the knowledge in the world.
Finally, knowledge does not make me any better than my comrades still dwelling in the cave. They all have the potential to step outside. Maybe some of them in my life already have. It's my obligation to encourage them to do so in a humble and understanding manner. It is my obligation to recognize the limitations of my knowledge, but to share what I do know with others, looking forward to the day that I will not be alone when I venture out of the cave and ultimately to the day when the cave no longer exists.
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