I'm going to assume you're familiar with Plato's theories, his cave story, and all that it implied. If not, then the rest of this blog probably isn't going to make any sense.
What if I accept Plato's view of the world? It's been around so long, and been popular so long, that it probably has some merit, right? After all, it's the idea of something that we remember, not the thing itself.
Which brings us to the problem: name one horse out there in the entire world that looks exactly like the ideal "idea" horse. It isn't out there. Our idea of a horse, granted, depends on what horses we've seen. For the sake of illustration, I'm bringing up a solid brown horse with four legs, and tail hair slightly darker than it's body hair.
Others may have grey horses in their minds as the "idea horse," but the point still stands--the true idea horse does not exist anywhere on the planet. Every being is unique, so every being must have a "defect" that differentiates it from the idea horse.
Now, this idea horse is simply one level up on the plane of knowledge, the lowest level being shadows, if you will; the next being the horse itself; followed by the idea of the horse, and so on. If the idea of the horse is the highest level of knowledge, and it can never be reached by viewing horses, then what is the point in exploring the world and accumulating knowledge?
Exploring the world with our senses fills our mind with second-rate knowledge. Why bother? Everything you need to know is up there already. Just study the books, and let your mind fill out the picture.
"What slender youth courts thee on roses in some pleasant cave?" (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)
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