Running head: ESSAY 1
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Essay 1
ESSAY 1
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Essay 1
We live in a time where it is easy to make others believe what you want them to believe.
We are lost in a virtual reality that takes over our lives, and we can view other people's lives,
opinions, and thoughts. I am speaking of social media. Through social media, we are hypnotized,
and we begin to lose ourselves in this reality without knowing it is sucking us dry. The readings
from the Matrix, the excerpt from Plato and Descartes do a great job at describing this.
The Matrix is a movie about a man named Neo who has the choice to view the world for
how it is or to continue living his life as though nothing ever happened. He decides to take the
red pill and see the real sense of life. He discovers that the entire human race is living a virtual
reality, they are all hooked up to machines and the machine inputs all the data that makes up their
natural lives. This ends up being very difficult for Neo, but he is able to accept the challenge and
learn from it. He realizes that the truth is not something that can be processed by everyone. "I
didn't say it would be easy, Neo. I only said it would be the truth” (Warner Bros. Pictures, 1999)
The excerpt from Plato gives an idea that is very similar to that of the matrix. In a
conversation between Socrates and Glaucon. Socrates is describing a thought to Glaucon and
asking him questions about it to prove a point. He explains a bunch of people in a cave, where
they are stuck standing still looking only forward and not being able to see anything else. The
only thing they can view is a puppet show and whoever controls the show is the one who
controls what everyone sees. He continues to say that if one man were somehow released and
was able to see what was around him, he would be confused and in pain of what he was seeing. It
would be extremely difficult, but in the end, he would get used to it and be glad to know the truth
for what it really is.
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The excerpt from Rene Descartes he speaks about analyzing everything he has ever been
taught and come up with his own opinion and conclusion of all matters. He was raised to think a
certain way without question, like me. He wanted to challenge those ideas because there was
more to the world than just what he was exposed to. Doing this however would not be an easy
task.
The similarities between all three of the readings are that all describe the possibility of
there being more than what we only have seen our entire lives. The Matrix had a machine that
housed all humanity and inputted all their memories. Plato's excerpt has humanity in a cave stuck
in one position viewing a show that was controlled by someone else. Descartes realized there
was more to life than just what he was taught.
Some differences are apparent, one uses machines, another is a cave, and one is thought
to describe the issue. Neo was offered the choice to view life as it was if it weren't for Morpheus
giving him this opportunity Neo would have continued to live his life as he always did. Plato
excerpt states that the pain would be so unbearable that one would prefer to live life as they
know it. However, if forced, one would learn to assimilate the truth and be thankful for it. Neo
was able to do this; unfortunately for Cypher, this was not the case.
Saying that the literal world we live in is not real is a mistake, I appreciate this week's
readings; however, I do not think they are meant to be taken literally. I do not believe we are
living in the Matrix, nor am I stuck in a cave watching what others want me to see. Now, the
ideas of being fooled to believe or think a certain way are real and they are controlled through
social media and the news outlets. We tend to view what we tend to agree with, and not give
much of an effort to try to understand different points of views. How do I know this? I don't, and
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I have no Justification for my belief; however, I still hold it as true. I believe in God and know
that he guides us through this complicated experience we call life
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References
Warner Bros. Pictures (Producer). (1999). The Matrix [Motion picture]. U.S.A.: Warner Bros.
Pictures.
