The Matrix is a film series about a dystopian future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped into a simulated reality called the Matrix, which uber-advanced and intelligent machines have programmed to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source. When Neo, the protagonist of the story uncovers the truth, he is drawn into a rebellion against the machines. Most of you probably have heard of it but instead of going into full detail, I’d like to talk about arguably the most iconic scene in the franchise. That still symbolizes one of the underlying philosophical problems that seem to be even more relevant today.
In the scene Neo was offered a choice by Morpheus involving two pills, the blue pill if taken meant that he would continue living in the simulated false reality maintaining a blissful state of ignorance without ever knowing what is real, or take the red pill and know the dark truth and be freed from the lies of the machines, but this comes with a consequence, his newfound discovery would lead him to a similar fate that Adam had when he bit the apple in the book of Genesis, he discovered the fundamental painful truth of life, that it is full of never-ending suffering and pain.
The Dilemma of Having to Choose
This may just be a movie but it shows the real-life dilemma of having to choose between taking the Blue Pill and continue living a life of blissful ignorance and clinging to ideologies and dogmas for answers or taking the hard-to-swallow red pill and face the harsh truth with guidance from philosophy, science, and most of all healthy skepticism to enlighten us and lessen the burden of the puzzle of life. The underlying question here is whether truth and knowledge are worth all the pain and anxiety, unlike in a blue-pilled life where you have beliefs that claim to give you absolute “truths” which then allow you to have a purpose and help distract you from the painful absurdities of life.
Red-Pilled Life
The red-pilled life will give you a herculean type of burden, the impossible task of trying to find out what is actually real and finding meaning in your existence. The painful truth is that if there is anything that can be said to be true about life is that it never stops sucking. Life is full of obstacles and sufferings and the looming threat of hopelessness and death plagues our very existence.
The Power to Choose
You still have a choice though, you can stay delusional and die blissfully ignorant by taking the blue pill or swallow the red pill and wake up consumed by the harshness of reality or fight back and find meaning in spite of all the suffering. I leave you with these questions: If there was a way of discovering the truth is it worth knowing? Now, what pill do you choose?
You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
~ Morpheus
This post was written by: Mario Emmanuel T. Bonleon III
FB: @Mario Emmanuel T. Bonleon III
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