"What is
real? How do you define ‘real’? If you're talking about what you can feel,
smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by
your brain."
-- Morpheus, in
"The Matrix"
Human brains are the
most powerful processors we have at present. From the moment we are born we are
programed by our parents, educators, the mass media and religious and idealist preachers
to perceive the world in a particular way, to see reality as all see it. We
have even developed science to explain how material reality works. With
the advent of mass media, the world around us has shrunk into an idiot box in
the living room.
For the great
majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were
realities, and are more often influenced by things that seem than by things
that are. -- Niccolo Machiavelli
People are actors and
human experience in short, is performance in society. Everybody in the world
around us lead personal lives. I only mean to say that if some one is to step
outside of his or her home then it is primarily for something that required
within their own circles. Human beings in this age can be even referenced to
ants as we simply care less for whom we deal with and simply expect human
interaction only out of a chore or a job. This is within the context of being
outside your personal space or circle. There is no sense in a confrontation of
the souls with anybody you might not necessarily know. The totality of our
interactions comprises the enormous enigma we call society.
Society itself is but
an invisible idea that exists to protect people, and one of the ways is to make
sure people know how to respond correctly to other people at the right time.
Whether this is followed or not, there is a certain set of obligations that is
expected of one when outside in the world. This is what defines our culture.
I think what the
common man fails to see is that the society is a world within itself with its
own dimension, operating with its own values.
Scientific research
states that most people only travel in a small area in and around their
work and home. What the common man knows of the real world has nothing to
do with real life experiences but is in fact second hand from sources of
information like the television or the Internet. For the vast majority
of the world’s population, the real world outside of home and work does not
exist first or second hand because their natural behavior incarcerates them
into a specific area.
We as humans think
that we understand our own natural behavior because we are creatures of habit.
We tend to have a travel routine, work or school then home and sometimes we go
on holiday thus we can imagine the entire world and know it is real
simply because we can choose to see and experience it but at the cost of our
routine. It is simply the choice of freedom over security.
Smith/Oracle: You must be able to see
it, Mr. Anderson; you must know it by now! You can't win; it's pointless to
keep fighting! Why, Mr. Anderson, why, why do you persist?
Neo: Because I choose to.
It is
coincidental that in both movies 'The Truman Show' and 'The Matrix Trilogy' the
characters of Truman and Neo both rejected their simulated lives. It is clear
that Truman and Neo choose a world where uncertainty and unpredictability
are two very prominent themes. Neo and Truman, though fictional characters
represent what we stand for as individuals in this world and primarily what we
seek out of it. Here is what I think. Man as a species defines his reality
through misery and suffering rendering him the unalienable right
to the ultimate pursuit for happiness.
By changing the
way we're seeing the world. You see, we're still searching for the right piece
to fix first. We don't see that all the problems simply are fragments of one
single crisis—a crisis of perception.
Think about it!
