Whether one elects for the “red pill of truth”, or the “blue pill of deception”, the battle for the human mind is being waged. Similarities between the motion picture, The Matrix, “The Allegory of the Cave” from Plato, the Republic, Book VII, 514A1-518D8, and Meditation 1 of The Things of Which We May Doubt, from Rene’s Descartes, Meditations on the First Philosophy 1641, include the existence of the opposing force that seeks to deceive the human (mind) soul, and hold the body captive by existing in a state of illusion. Each character confronts the enemy of deception and must choose what to do with the truth revealed to them. In contrast for some, the reality of the truth will prove to be too much. The knowledge of the truth can still be rejected and living the illusion of a lie can still be accepted.
Neo was born enslaved in a pod, physically stored in liquid, and controlled by the artificial intelligence of computers and machines. Neo serves as an energy source and is fed artificial images that hold him in an induced dream state of a virtual reality. Like Neo, the prisoner of Plato’s cave, has been held in bondage since birth. The prisoner is bound with chains in a fixed position, given only the illusion of reality from dancing shadows on the walls from those outside the cave. The cave consists of people holding others captive to a physical existence and mental prison limited by their physical senses. Unlike Neo being bound by computers and machines, the prisoner is a part of the body of others who make up his social system of deception. The people are deceived, in bondage, paralyzed, and unaware there is reality outside of the cave, or that the cave even exists. According to Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living”.
Unlike Neo and the prisoner, Descartes turns within and determines to explore his mind,
