In the film The Matrix, the question being asked is whether or not anything in this world that we experience every day, from the trees that are growing outside, to the people we encounter on a daily basis, truly exists. In The Matrix film, this question is answered with a resounding “No,” that nothing is real and that the true nature around us is a harsh and cruel reality, one where the entirety of the Earth’s population is enslaved to a race of “machines.” The main character, Neo, is at first scared about everything he is now experiencing, questioning whether or not if he’s actually dreaming. However, he does come to terms with the fact that he is in fact living in the real world, and his new mission in life is to save as many people as possible from the lies of the machines. The Wachowski siblings, the two people who created the trilogy weren’t the first people to experiment with the concept of a “real” world outside of our “fake” reality. Philosophers dating back to the time of Rene Descartes, and even further back to the age of Plato, have toyed and pondered with this concept. Even though their concepts are all generally the same, the way they perceive it is very different. For example, the Greek philosopher Plato had this concept of a man who was trapped in a cavern his entire life and was physically restrained with tethers, so that he could not move. The only thing available to him was a fire that would cast shadows on the walls and he would only know these shadows for his entire lifetime. Plato goes on to explain what would happen if this man were to ever be freed from his shackles and brought out into the “real” world. Plato determines that he would need to slowly become accustomed to the new world, and even though this new world may be harsh, there would be more hope in the “real” world than in the cavern. Rene Descartes questioned the reality around him as well, wondering if anything he had learned since the time of his youth was in fact truth, or a terrible deception that his mind had painted for him to believe as truth. Descartes came up with the idea that if the God that he had known his whole life was in fact real, he would not allow such a lie to be told to any of his creations, thus proving that not only did God exist, but everything outside the perception of our consciousness was real as well. He also determined, however, that if the same reality he had experienced his whole life was actually the workings of a malignant demon, and nothing he had experienced actually happened, he would still choose to live the life he had been living and stay succumbed to the lies he had been told, in fear of the true reality outside of his consciousness. All of these examples are similar in the fact that they explore the possibility of an existence outside of the one we experience on a daily basis. These realities are different depending on the example, of course. For instance in The Matrix, the “real” world was overrun with merciless machines that used humans as living batteries. In Plato’s cavern example, the real world is actually a much better place than the cavern, and that anyone could eventually grow accustomed too it, given the right amount of time, and gradually being introduced to that outside world. Finally Descartes outside world is either non-existent, or so horrible that we would want to continue being lied too in order to avoid such a harsh reality.
Another thing that makes them different is the way the people handle their situation when given the option to experience the “real” world. For example, Neo wanted to save all of man-kind from the tyranny of the machines, while Descartes decided to take the “blue pill option” and continue to live in his dream world for fear of the reality he had not yet faced. Plato determined to take the “red pill option,” just as Neo did, but his reality was significantly different than the reality Neo experienced. Upon realizing the utter hopelessness of the real world around him, it seems to Neo, at first, that maybe the “fake” world was actually better. For Plato’s character, however, it is eventually determined that there is actually more hope outside of the cavern than there is inside of it.
I also want to talk about my opinion on what is to be a better option. The “red pill,” or the, “blue pill.” The option to know the truth, or the option to be blissfully ignorant and unaware of what is really going on around you. Personally, I would not want to be lied to about anything that I should otherwise know about. If in fact there is a world outside of the one I have come to know, then I would want someone to show me what I have been missing, whether the reality is good or bad. No human being should be lied to about the truth. Lying in any culture is determined to un-ethical and wrong. The Bible compares liars to murderers. Modern culture shuns those who lie, and despises leaders who lie to those they are lying. With this in mind, why would it be acceptable to be lied to about the world surrounding us? The answer is that it isn’t acceptable. Human beings as a whole are not mere puppets to be manipulated with lies and deceit. By our very God-given nature, we seek the truth. Although some find “the truth” in other things, they still constantly search very a definitive answer for what the truth really is. There is not a single person who can deny us from knowing the truth.