Layers of Plato's Cave

1.Passive entertainment = watching shadows on the cave wall
2.Active entertainment = People making the shadows
3.Acquisitive of material wealth = Fire for the shadows
4.Acquisitive of knowledge = Cave exit

I don't think that phrase was necessarily meant to pass a negative judgement on the masses, but rather that the source of a person's discomfort comes from being observed by other people and perceived differently from who we really are