Conspiracy theories about children’s TV shows
Posted by Josh Taylor / November 7, 2013 Conspiracy theoriesSesame Street
Normally I’m not much for conspiracy theories, but after re-watching some episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy I became more open to the idea. Then I stumbled across this Neatorama article and my mind was blown. Ponder this theory, if you dare:
Alternatively, Sesame Street is actually an exploration of Plato’s Republic and, specifically, his Allegory of the Cave. Here is part of the argument made by redditor theterrorofmuffins:
Plato uses the sun and light to represent knowledge, truth, and reason many places in his works — light allows us to see objects for what they really are rather than in the darkness, and the sun is the source of all light. Plato also emphasizes that true reason is something humans can never fully obtain, but it is something we can work for — Kallipolis, the ideal city he envisions, is a fantasy that we can move towards, but we can never achieve. As imperfect rational beings, we don’t know how to get there.
“Sunny days, sweepin’ the clouds away. Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?”
Now, what about the philosopher ruler who must pass on his wisdom in order to educate and enlighten the world not overtly, but subtly. In the allegory, the enlightened individual who saw the light of the sun can only achieve this through creating shadowy illusions on the cave wall. However, there are many other “puppet masters” making shadows on the wall for the prisoners to watch, and they deceive and conjure things untruthfully and without reason. The enlightened one, however, because of the inevitability of his rejection were he to convey his reason directly, must use this shadowy mode of illusory puppeteering to get his message across by meager demonstration.
And that is what Sesame Street is — the shadows on the wall, demonstrations of how we might live in a harmonious society. It’s given to us at a young age through television by it’s enlightened creators so that we might adapt to and absorb its positive message. Thank you, Sesame Street.
Via Neatorama.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
This article is a conspiracy.