Morpheus: “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. 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.” Instead of being asked *before* you learn about the Matrix, what if you were given the option after waking up and living on the ship? Would you rather live a harsh life in reality, or a comfortable life in delusion?
The Matrix inspired me to think about this situation, and whether or not it would be better to live a harsh life in reality, or a comfortable life in delusion. The term ‘reality’ questions us to think about the life we are living in a deeper sense. How do we know that we are not already living in a delusional space? In The Matrix, Morpheus gave Neo the choice to take the red pill, one that would allow him to see the world as it truly is, for all of its flaws and imperfections, or to take the blue pill, which gave him the opportunity to wake up and believe whatever he wanted to believe.
I believe that knowing the truth is better than living a false life. For example, in a scenario where a person is lying to their friend, but only because they don’t want to hurt their feelings, I believe that the consequences of this decision is that their friendship will be strained and they will eventually lose their friendship altogether. Many people have good intentions, but the consequences of their actions isn’t always the best. Similarly, I believe that living a false life or acting in a ‘false’ way, will eventually make you and other people question what is real and if (in this made-up scenario) the friendship means anything to that person at all.
Although the truth can be harsh sometimes, I believe that it’s better to know the truth and help improve the situation, rather than living a comfortable life in delusion, and never see the reality of it all. The truth has its flaws and imperfections, but I believe that this is better, because it means we are being challenged as individuals and have to go through hardships in order to grow and develop. Living a comfortable life in delusion doesn’t provide you with this opportunity, and makes us ignorant of the reality and truth of the ‘real world.’