Socrates uses this simple yet profound statement to illustrate how one breaks out of the "cave." You must go through life aware of not only your surroundings, but yourself. Living an examined life means many things: it means being able to review your day in the fashion of the Examen. It means being aware of your weaknesses and your biases. It means that you must strive for the greater things in life, not be swept along in society's wave. Deion Sanders is a perfect example of someone who learned to live an examined life. He seemed to be on top of the world, but inside he was hollow. When he looked at himself and his lifestyle, he realized that he did not have a meaningful foundation, but only material goods. It is only when we examine our hearts and our minds that we can begin to grow as a person and live a good life.

Three ideas that I would like to remember: 

1) Hubris- The ancient Greek idea of being invincible; the most powerful modern example of hubris is the United   States, although everyone is susceptible to this attitude at some point, especially teenagers who think "well, it won't happen to me." We must constantly remind ourselves that we are just as weak as everyone else.

2) Allegory of the Cave- Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a visual description of the human condition; slaves to our perceptions, living in a world of illusion. When someone finds it within themselves to climb out of the cave and discover the true world, they are greeted with anger from the complacent ignorant ones still in the cave. Examples are Socrates himself, Jesus, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, etc.

3) Blind Men and the Elephant- The Buddha gives this story illustrating another part of the human condition, our 

one-sidedness; most people lack the ability to see all sides of an issue, much less all sides of life— we are blinded by our inborn bias and our point of view.

S. Mark Cohen

One question to ask myself: Is there a wrong kind of faith?

I believe that there is one form of faith that is fundamentally wrong, and that is blind faith. Faith should be something  firm and steady, something with deep roots within you, something that you have doubted and reflected on. Faith is not something taken for granted or picked up and dropped again like a fad.