Blogging Around

Rich's blog.

Rich wrote a blog connecting freedom vs. security to the matrix and then gun control. Here is my response to his blog.

Rich, freedom and security are both powerful elements that require a complex balance  with in our society. With gun control, I can see how that can be seen as freedom vs. security argument. I would also add though, that the pro-gun people believe owning a gun is security because it allows them to defend themselves. They feel without their guns: A- They are not secure, B- Their freedoms are being violated, and C- a tyrannical government could take over which happens to be quite illogical because no matter how many guns we buy as a people, there is no way we could out gun the US military. They have something called missiles, planes and tanks. Additionally, in Australia, this same dilemma occurred in the 90's and they dealt with it. They based a ban on assault rifles, going against much public outcry. But it worked, there was no revolution or anything, and they have not had any massacres since 1996 when they passed this legislation. I hope the United States will come to our senses and do the same.


Jordan's Blog

Jordan wrote about truth vs. reality and the matrix. How taking the pill, really is you making that choice. 

Jordan, the question of whether our world is true always fascinates me. How do we know our world isn't fake? We don't. We just accept our world like how we accept what we are ignorant to. If I am ignorant to the truth, I will believe in my own ignorant truth. Now is it bad for me to live with this ignorance? Is it really hurting me? Probably not, who cares if I am living is an ignorant reality. I will never know the difference between that world and the truth. Sure we would like to know the truth, but there is really no way for us to know, or at least for thousands of years, when our science advances enough to find this out. 
Now onto the pill, I personally have no idea which one I would have chosen. It seems like it would have been more fun to take the same pill Neo chose and I think I would have felt pressure to take that one regardless because they would have came over to me for no reason.

Dialectics: Matrix and the "Real World"

The matrix presents two opposing worlds; one within a computer simulated world and one that is “real.” Primarily, these two worlds contradict. For instance, one could question which world is more real. The matrix to most people appeared real to the average person within the matrix. The “real” world presented no more “real” of a world (just an alternative reality where robots control the world) than what most people experienced in the matrix.

Then the movie claims that the “real” world is of truth and freedom while within the matrix people are restricted as slaves. This claim is quite flawed. Although in the “real” world we no longer live within the machines computerized matrix, both worlds present a feeling of freedom. In the matrix people are given “free” choice to the extent felt by people with in the “real” world or even in Northbrook. Even with the machines controlling the world, people still feel free and live what feels like a free life. Additionally, in the “real” world or even in Northbrook are we really free? Not exactly, it depends on how we define freedom. In our world, we still abide by laws and are subject to limitations of our freedom of speech. Furthermore, society limits how we can act and what we buy is largely influenced by our culture and lifestyles. I cannot threaten the President, use the bathroom where ever I want or wear a dress because those are all either illegal and/or not socially acceptable (nor do I desire to do most of these tasks but I am simply using them as examples to further our freedom limitations). Both places people feel they can make choices.

However, not only is our world and the matrix not 100% free, but it also is not always true. The matrix, as we all know, is a fake world, but in our real lives, we are also constantly lied to. When I turn on the TV I see shoes that would make me a “professional” athlete  (Nike) and insurance agents that appear whenever I sing the companies jingle (State Farm). Both of those examples turned out be false; the shoes didn’t help and the agent never showed up. Furthermore, Lance Armstrong was a fake and Bernie Madoff scammed many investors. Everywhere we look there are so many examples of how we are lied to and made out to beleive our world is more true than it it.

Furthermore, is the “real” world any more true than the matrix. Both appear true to the user. I would never notice if I was living in a fake world. Who knows, maybe I am living in a fake world right now. There is just no way to prove if any world is real if its all you ever knew. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” presents an outstanding explanation of how you do not want what you don’t know. This concept can be used to relate how the matrix and the “real” word both share practically the same realism even though the movie claimed that one was more true than the other.