STREAMS OF KNOWLEDGE: Interpreting a Platonic Allegory IMAGE: A kaleidoscopic circular mandala in the shape of an icosagon with a radiant central point. Melissa: Streams of knowledge? All I see is a kaleidoscope. Where's the "knowledge"? Tim: Think of each image as a Rorschach test – what we see reflects who we are. Satoru: What's knowledge but structured information? Centuries ago great thinkers suggested knowledge had an actual form – every object in the universe "speaks" in its own way. Melissa: (shaking her head) Sounds like metaphysical nonsense! Liao: The only true nonsense is believing our senses: they are liars. As Plato points out, we perceive limited information through the senses. Sensory information is akin to shadows on the wall of a cave. Melissa: (growing impatient) Ha, why waste time on such metaphysical talk? Tim: (sighing) Ah. Well. Ahmm. Just enjoy the art. ===================================================================================== from _Crassroom Voices - Poetry, Art, & Dialogs about Education_ by T Newfields SUMMARY: A discussion about an ancient allegory concerning knowledge. KEYWORDS: kaleidoscopic knowledge, existential epistemology, metaphysics, anekantavada Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955) Begun: 2001 in Nagoya, Japan / Finished: 2018 in Yokohama, Japan Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted < LAST http://www.tnewfields.info/CrassroomVoices/plato.htm TOC http://www.tnewfields.info/CrassroomVoices/index.html NEXT > http://www.tnewfields.info/CrassroomVoices/textese.htm