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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Inside Plato's Digital Cave
By Jaffer Ali

Socrates: And if he is compelled to look straight at the
light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make
him turn away to take refuge in the objects of vision
which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in
reality clearer than the things which are now being shown
to him? And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly
dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until
he's forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he
not likely to be pained and irritated?
--Book VII of Plato's Republic

I had not read the allegory of Plato's Cave since my
college days many years ago. When I chanced upon it the
other day while surfing the web, I found it once again
spoke to me as it has spoken to the world for nearly
2500 years.

What was once my basis for a theoretical treatise in
college has become a profound revelation as I traverse
the online media landscape. It is all but certain that
many of the digerati are helplessly, and -- dare I say
it -- nearly hopelessly chained inside the cave, unable
to see the world outside.

The reality of online media and media in general is
that there is a very deep problem that digital pundits
apparently cannot countenance. The pain of the light
proves so pervasive that they satisfy themselves by
looking at shadows cast upon the cave walls.

Media agencies are the most tethered group inside the
cave. They are chained to complexity that, devoid of
logic and reason, dooms them and their clients to life
amidst the shadows. This will remain so for the foresee-
able future because complexity fosters the illusion of
expertise and advertisers are now so deep inside the
cave that they're willing to finance hope against hope
in their desperate search for a way out.

But there is more to being inside the digital cave than
the mere cause and effect of misguided self-interest.
There are dire consequences that lurk in these same
shadows. The entire online media ecosystem is growing
increasingly unhealthy and unsustainable as seemingly
smart folks continue to shy away from the light. Our
long-term self interest demands an exit from the cave,
but it's as if there is a collective delusion -- beyond
reason and rationality -- that keeps us in the dark.

There are an estimated 250 million functioning websites,
yet arguably less than 1% of them are financially sustain-
able. With more than 99% of this ecosystem economically
unviable, one would expect considerable focus on this sorry
state of affairs. But even just a cursory overview of our
digital trade press indicates a wildly disproportionate
amount of attention on the marginally viable 1% and almost
no consideration whatsoever for the unsustainable parts
of the ecosystem.

Can a practiced cave dweller emerge from the shadows? Plato
thought so, but I am not so sure. Plato believed in the
power of rational thought to overcome irrational emotion.
For us to escape from the metaphorical cave that shields
us from the light of reason, we must first force ourselves
to look beyond the darkness of our own design.

Not until the threat of life in the shadows becomes too
great will people brave the journey into the light. We
can only hope that the self-inflicted pain caused by an
unsustainable media ecosystem will force us out.

Perhaps the words of French author Anais Nin will help to
guide us: "And the day came when the risk to remain tight
in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
--Anais Nin

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