The urbanist's journey out of the cave

Plato's "The Republic" sheds some light on why some people just won't change their planning & engineering ways.

If there’s so much information about building better places, then why aren’t more experts taking action? If so many success stories of good urbanism are freely available online, then why aren’t more people demanding reform?

Socrates, Plato's mentor, narrates the allegory of the cave from “The Republic”:

Imagine human beings living in an underground cave with an entrance open to the light and a long passage all down the cave. Here they have been from their childhood, chained by the leg and also by the neck so that they cannot move and see only what is in front of them, because the chains will not let them turn their heads. 

At a distance above and behind them the light of a fire is blazing, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have before them, over which they show the puppets.

On this wall, then, the things being done appear to be the shadows of men and other objects, which the fire casts on the wall of the cave opposite where the prisoners are seated.

Moreover, if they were able to talk to each other, don't you think they would consider that they were naming what was actually before them?

And suppose further that there was an echo which came from the wall, would they not be sure to think when one of the passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?

To them, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.

Is it really that much of a stretch to imagine professional planners and engineers working their entire careers in the dark cave? All they know are the shadows on the wall. 

In Plato’s story, one of the prisoners breaks free from their chains and ventures out of the cave into the outside world. Here’s what escaped planner or engineer experienced next:

1. Blinding Light. As the freed professional turns away from the cave wall and faces the entrance, the brightness of the outside world is blinding. It’s a disorienting and painful experience, encountering the truth about the status quo industry for the first time.

2. Adjustment to the Real World. Over time, the eyes adjust, and they begin to see the true nature of the outside world. They see what human flourishing can look like.

3. Knowledge and Enlightenment. They come to understand that the shadows on the cave wall were mere illusions. The more they learn, the more they want to learn.

4. Desire to Return. Filled with newfound understanding, the freed professional feels a deep desire to return to the status quo cave and share what they’ve learned with coworkers and clients.

5. Resistance from Peers. The professional returns to the cave and tries to explain the true human experience to the other prisoners. The prisoners are comfortable with their world of shadows, and aren’t buying the wild tales from outside.

There’s obviously a liberation that comes from learning enough to distinguish illusion from reality. But when you return to the status quo cave to share what you’ve learned, don’t be surprised when you face skepticism and resistance from your peers.