"We are wiser than we know,  noted Robert Waldo Emerson, who has view similar to Plato. Although the people have the capacity to learn, most of us do not reach out full potential. According to Plato in his "Allegory of the Cave  to be human is to be stuck in ignorance and selfishness unless one is led into enlightenment. Plato's view on human nature is just as important today as it was 2500 years ago. In our world today we still have many prisoners of ignorance and selfishness. Plato sees all humans as initially unable to know the truth of reality. In the Plato's writing, he writes about an "underground cave  (1), where the humans are in captivity with "their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move. (1) The underground cave represents the exclusion of all ideas. The chains are the connection to religious belief, cultural expectations, superstition and prejudice. Because the humans are captured by the ideology around them, they do not question or explore. They just accept their circumstances and do not attempt to break free. They are trapped in their current circumstances. The captives do not even know how to question or that they are trapped. For some, the way out of the prisoners of ignorance is to be enlightened. The way to be enlightened is a process. "Prisoners are released and disabused,  (2) which means giving the chance to learn about life outside the cave. The prisoners played games with the shadows but Plato does not believe that this is the correct way to englightenment. After being released the prisoner "will suffer sharp pains  (2) is saying when that he tries something for the first time he will not enjoying it and has a hard time with it. Everyone goes through this process. It is like starting at a new school, always wanting to go back to the old one or, moving to a new state. Nobody really likes to move but people will get use to life there and love every second of it. When anyone is so cl