The Limits of Shadows in our Minds

I just finished reading a dialogue written by Plato called "The Allegory of the Cave". The way the story was written was a little hard to follow at first, but as I was reading, I began to understand the point Plato was attempting to make. At first, as he is describing the prisoners in the cave only see the shadows, I understood that he was comparing how they perceived the shadows as reality because they didn't know any different, to how a person comes into this world, with no real knowledge of anything. Once the prisoner is released, he sees the objects that made the shadows he believed to be real. It dawns on him that the objects are reality, and what he previously thought was his reality (the shadows)were false. This mirrors a child starting to discover life, beginning the learning process. The prisoner doesn't know that his new truth is also a miss-truth, but learns this as well when he is made to go out of the cave and look at the sun. Its painful for him to see the light because it hurts his eyes after so long in the dark, but also to come to an understanding that everything he's known so far in his life is untrue, and to find out that the world around him is far greater than his imagination could have ever come up with. This is a comparison to a child growing to an adult, and going out into the world for the first time. There are many painful learning experiences that happen, but each teaches a person something, and allows this person to gain true knowledge.

I think the point of Plato's entire argument is that until a person acquires the knowledge of reality, he can not fully understand the way the world works. If a person isn't given the opportunity to learn, he will always be in the dark, believing everything he sees as truth. Once that person has a means to learn, he should learn as much as he can and use that knowledge for good. Once educated, people have the power to make a change in the world. They also must make the choice whether to use their knowledge for benefit of all or for benefit of only themselves (good or evil). Once he has full knowledge, in order to keep him in the perspective of appreciating the value of that knowledge, the person should be made to go back to where he began, as in into the cave, and teach those who haven't begun to gain knowledge,as in to the prisoners still there, to remind himself of false beliefs he once had. Only then, will this person have achieved the highest form of understanding, and know how to use it for good.

At least this is what I think this story means!