Artificial intelligence is transforming “the way we think about the world, the way that we communicate [and] our political ...

Our 21st-century cave is our modern media system, where truth is a spectacle controlled by propaganda. Some of us are prisoners, some of us are creating shadows, and some of us are escapees.

This story of the cave is one of the most important and enduring in philosophy illustrating ideas taught in Plato’s Academy, a school that formed the basis for much of later educational efforts.

Our 21st-century cave is our modern media system, where truth is a spectacle controlled by propaganda. Some of us are prisoners, some of us are creating shadows, and some of us are escapees.

Let’s go back to Plato and his cave. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” from the Republic, helps us understand populism in the U.S. today and its role in Donald Trump’s rise.

This story is, of course, Plato’s “allegory of the cave” from his book The Republic, written in the second half of the 4th century B.C.E. But it’s also us, today. Our 21st-century cave is our modern ...

Propaganda has trapped us in Plato’s Cave — the shadows aren’t real but the sun is blinding (iStockphoto via Getty Images) By Jennifer Mercieca UPDATED: February 27, 2024 at 8:26 p.m.

Our 21st-century cave is our modern media system, where truth is a spectacle controlled by propaganda. Some of us are prisoners, some of us are creating shadows, and some of us are escapees.