However, this despair of one's uselessness in the face of the time scale of the universe and human progress can be addressed in some ways with a simple change of perspective. For example, if one believes that there is life after death, then one can put aside the fear of uselessness or non-being, believing that one will exist eternally in another form or in a non-earthly place. Not only that, as Plato wrote in his Allegory of the Cave about the liberation of a prisoner from a deep, dark cave (which was all the reality the imprisoned man had ever known since he was a child) into the free world of the upper light , meaning "the ascent of the mind into the domain of true knowledge [of philosophy]" (Plato), so too one can escape the fear of inevitable human death by losing the sense of selfishness, learning to value family life , friends and loved ones. or his immediate society above his own