Blogging Around

While looking at blogs, I was excited to read the Dialectics prompt, probably because I had so much fun with it. I read a few different responses, but the one that sparked the most interest in me was Laila's. She compared restriction and freedom, and it immediately reminded me of religion. Many people have different views on religion, and one of these contradicting beliefs is whether it restricts or frees you.

Laila,
Your paragraph describing restriction reminded me a lot of the idea of fate and that God or some other all-powerful being as a path laid out for you. You still have "choices" within that path, but in the end you will end up in the same place. Many religions believe that, and to me that is the easy way out. It allows people to sit back and anything happen because they believe that no matter what they do, they'll end up in the same place anyways. It completely aggravates me. But, as you further pointed out, what if we were living in a world where our choices were made for us but we were under the illusion that we were in control? Then I agree with you, that it is not restriction because we are not seeing ourselves as being restricted. If in this life we are set on a path by some divine being and don't have control over our future but all the while believe that we do, I don't believe that we are truly being restricted. But once you sit back and let everything fly pass you because you believe you'll end up in the same place, then you become restricted.

After looking at a few more blogs and prompts, I found that the Dialectics prompt was the one that sparked my interest the most. Eliana's entry was interesting, in which she compared the ideas of bliss and darkness.

Eliana,
After reading your blog, I realized that it hit an idea that I was struggling with in my head but wasn't able to fully comprehend it. And now, after reading Laila's response as well, I feel as if I am slightly repeating what has been said by both of you. But oh, well. After watching the Matrix, I found myself trying to figure out which world I'd rather be in: simulated or real? The immediate answer should be real for most people, because that seems to be the correct world to desire. That's what all of the good people in the movie go for. But Neo seems extremely miserable once he's pulled out of the Matrix. To be fair, we don't know if he was always so sad, but to me it seemed like he wasn't having a great time. Personally, I would be with Eliana, Laila, and Cypher. I honestly believe that I would be happier living in my blissful fantasy world. If I was pulled into the real world, I wouldn't be able to handle it. So I somewhat agree with Eliana's claim that the real world is blissful, but the people living in it don't seem too happy. To me, the happier people are the ones who stay in the Matrix.

Dialectics: The Matrix Is and Isn't Possible

Before we began watching the Matrix, I was nervous. I have the tendency to get ideas that scare me (such as the possibility of the Matrix) stuck in my head and it's hard to get rid of them. I was afraid that I would become convinced that I was stuck in the Matrix. But, I sucked it up. And I'm glad I did because The Matrix is an amazing movie.

The idea that provoked me the most, and I'm sure many others, is the idea of whether or not the Matrix itself is even possible. On the surface, it's easy to say yes. We could be in the Matrix right now and have no idea. It's also easy to say no, because that is completely ridiculous and highly improbable. But, by being the devil's advocate, we can come back and say just because it's improbable doesn't mean it's impossible.

I began believing that yes, the Matrix is indeed possible. It could have just been the paranoia in me leading to this conclusion, but I did take this idea into consideration. We could never know, unless approached by Morpheus, whether or not we were in the Matrix. Isn't that the whole idea? To believe so thoroughly in it that it becomes your reality? That idea is what freaks me out. What if everything I believe to be real right now really isn't?

But that brings me to the side of the Matrix being impossible. It's difficult to comprehend the idea that everything you have learned and experienced is just a figment of your imagination. Or, rather, being fed into your imagination through a machine. We all put so much trust into our memories and experiences, fully believing in everything, that it would be almost impossible for us to turn around and realize that no, it wasn't real. 

But let's say for a second that the Matrix is real (as in we are inside the Matrix right now). Does that mean that all of our experiences and memories aren't real? What makes a memory real? A memory or experience is created by the brain, and even though our memories would've been given to us, wouldn't they still be stored away in the same way and place that every other real memory would be put? If the Matrix were to be real, and we were all inside of it, I do not believe that it would undermine every experience we have lived through. Just because we haven't seen it or touched it with our actual body, our mind is still given the electric impulses it would've been given if it had seen or touched this thing. So doesn't that make it as real as anything else?

In the end, I do not believe that we are in the Matrix. It's extremely difficult to believe, so much so that I find it so improbable that it's most likely not true (see I'm not saying impossible). But, if we just so happened to be in the Matrix right now, I do not think that my life, or anyone else's, would be considered a lie. Sure, we didn't experience anything with our full consciousness, but our brain treated everything as if we did. And that is what controls our memories, thoughts, experiences, everything; the brain. So if the brain believes it, so do we.