Status:: #🌱 Tags:: Links:: <% tp.file.cursor(4) %> # Plato's psychological theory of human existence Plato was the first to come up with a genuine psychological theory of human existence, a theory still with truth to this day. He theorized there were three metaphorical parts of humans, the man, monster, and lion. The man is the part of us that seeks truth from falsity, that focuses on long term goals. This is like the [[System 2]] thinking in [[Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman]]. The monster is the part of us that speaks in pleasure and pain, that pursues immediate goals. This is like the [[System 1]] thinking of [[Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman]]. The lion is the part of us that speaks in honor and shame, that pursues social cultural relevant mid term goals. It’s the part that has evolved from humans need to work together to survive. Each part has an adaptive mechanism evolutionarily and none are inherently bad. But when these parts of us are working against each other, we portray it through bad actions in the world, we succumb to our ego. Plato portrayed this as living in shadow inside of his metaphor of the cave. When we can integrate these parts together, we start to see the light, the illusion of reality. Than we are able to try and help others see the light. This is wisdom. This idea is exemplified in modern day movies like the matrix.