“Unfortunately, No One Can Be Told What the Matrix Is; You Have to See It for Yourself!”
One of the immoral lines from the Matrix film… A well understood and accepted paradoxical path to enlightenment; but how realistic is this paradigm, does a hidden matrix truly exist and what does it mean for today's populous?
There are many articles, forums and websites all dedicated to the Matrix, it’s trilogy and the philosophical ramifications of this well-known concept. Many surround the manipulation of reality, the altering of consciousness, hidden control mechanisms, Agents of the AI etc.. Many of the themes hold a form and symmetry to the developments being made in the IT sphere and the controlling arms of authoritarian bodies, whether they be religious, commercial, monarchical or governmental. However, I would like to present a differing perspective to this concept, one that I believe holds the utmost of importance.
This perspective centers on future events; not ‘The Future’ but ‘Your Future’ and the far-reaching implications and manifestations of your captive mind; I’d like to commence by providing you with a personal experience.
Do you remember your first ever electronic gadget? Mine was a ‘Simple Simon-Says’ game with basic flashing lights and sounds; created to test One’s sequencing and recall skills. At the time, I could probably reach the 30-40 recall mark; however, given the same task today, I honestly feel that I’d struggle to get over twenty! Whether this is due to age, continuous distractions, attention deficit, non-interest and / or a combination of these points and more; my belief system summarizes a negative outlook to any vein attempt.
Now let’s take a look at the infamous ‘Selfie’; again another modern phenomenon. A practice that has escaped the realms of Narcissism and is generally accepted today; may this be for social media, event archiving or love interests - any ‘Selfie’ has one common denominator - ‘image review’. The budding photographer MUST stringently evaluate each image prior to publication, and in most instances, doctor the photos in order to present them in the best possible light. The belief here suggests failure to do so will result in public ridicule, social exclusion and personal shame; in addition, the social climber and / or Narcissist will seek to gain favor from this action.
Pertaining to ‘Nomophobia’ where individuals believe they are not in possession of their device, ‘device separation anxiety’ in children - who display aggressive behavior in the belief that there game/toy/device will not be return to them. As I have glaringly alluded to here - most IT systems envelope our personal belief system, which ultimately governs our behavior - from the cradle to the grave.
Point in case. Picture a beautiful sunny day, outside at a picturesque location, with a group of close friends or family; someone will pull-out their mobile device or gravitate to modern contrived distractions. It’s almost guaranteed that somebody will; in many cases, anyone observing this behavior will tend to do the same. For me, this behavior stems from the subconscious belief that there is something more important than experiencing a lovely sunny day; likewise, a greater need for your attention, looms over your friends or social gathering.
In order to truly grasp the reality and implications of ‘Your Future’, we must first take a quick history lesson, to establish the origins of this type of post-modern Idolatry.
Prior to the Neolithic Revolution, icons, symbols and general text were confined to a varied collection of both bizarre and beautiful Parietal art forms - spanning 35,000 years. The untold advantages, beauty and belief in such tools quickly led to the belief that One could depict God / or gods with such tools. The consolidation of such religious belief systems resulted in the utter desolation of pagan icons, text and symbols. It is a common held misconception, that much of the population in the era of antiquity were illiterate, barbaric cave dwellers; however, evidence proves that even since the days of Babylon, much of the working classes and most certainly the middle to upper class were as intelligent, if not more superior in many forms of scribing, art and culture, than today's modern man - as their lives would depend upon it!
Much of the literature that lay outside these core beliefs / religious systems presented today, has been destroyed or suppressed; therefore, countless centuries of knowledge passed down the family line, from generation to generation has now been lost forever. Once established, many of these religious entities pushed to include the State as having divine provenance. In essence, pushing the narrative that ‘an existence of servitude’ is the natural order of the universe. Feudalism quickly followed and large sections of the religious faith were themselves purged, resulting in many of the sacred text/books/gospels being omitted from modern publications and those individuals resisting such change - being equally ruthlessly dispatched.
In history, we can find numerous accounts of where religion hit back! Toppling kings and dynasties, commanding State powers for themselves and / or colluding with Monarchs and the ruling class, in a bid to maintain the status quo. Whatever the tactic, how ever the narrative is played out, this also condenses down to one single denominator - belief! Who is right, which group is wrong, what should be done - all narratives played out on the world stage, encroaching on you, vying for your attention, cementing your beliefs.
History lesson over, we are now left with an aging false dichotomy, desperately seeking new ways by which to control public opinion. Either side attempting to avert mutual destruction, whilst continuing to commit the same atrocities of the past, merely to perpetuate and to stave-off it’s own irrelevance!
This continuous manipulation of the human belief system has resulted in the most unbelievable of changes and amazing swings in the world view of the masses - that we find today. For example, in the past, the phenomena of famine was traditionally thought to have been caused by force majeure or an act of God; however, people now believe this to be predominately political in nature. Wars were and are being fought for the right ideology; where the populous now believe this is due to resource acquisition. Political correctness was originally view as protecting the civil liberties of minorities; more recently this has been seen as an blatant curtailing of free speech! The list goes on and on…..!!!
So what of ‘Your Future’, how does this play out and what is the end result?
Please check-out part II, in order to find out. Until then, question - are your beliefs your own?