Face it, you’re a sheep.
But you don’t have to be…
In the film “Braveheart” there’s a moment when the irate king of England rants about the rebellious Scots with the phrase “Sheep! Mere sheep! Easily dispersed if you strike the shepherd!” What happens to sheep without a shepherd? They disperse, they wander, they look for a new herd. (Unless they’re Scots, in which case they drink whisky, recite poetry and start a fight).
In my last article, I discussed some of the problems of group membership. Tonight, I was having a conversation with Michael, a good friend, and the idea came up again. The fear, the villification of the other is useful for us, especially in our youth. It protects us from people and ideas that may do us harm. We’re meant to grow out of it though. Contemporary debate is characterised more by bias and insult than anything like a mutual pursuit of truth and goodness. We prefer our groups, our commitments, to growth and progress.
Over 2000 years ago, Plato discussed this with the use of an allegory (a picture that stands in for ideas). He told a story of a group of people who were prisoners in a cave. (It’s known as Plato’s Cave. Google it. Or, even better, go read his “Republic” for yourself. You’ll be a better person for it.) The prisoners could see shadows on the wall, but never the real things. As the story goes, one person somehow was…
