Which pill would you have taken and why?
Neo is offered the red pill and the blue pill by Morpheus in the opening act of the Matrix. The blue pill allows Neo to remain in the Matrix, in essence to go back to sleep and to remember this little encounter w/ Morpheus as a dream or "believe whatever you want to believe". The red pill allows Neo to stay in the "wonderland" and discover the truth.
I like this sentence from an essay about the Matrix b/c it captures the essence of the choice: "The question then is not about pills, but what they stand for in these circumstances. The question is asking us whether reality, truth, is worth pursuing."
I think since most if not all of you who are taking this class are taking this class b/c you want to dig deeper into life, you are highly curious and intelligent and want to find out what is out there, I think there's very very few who will NOT take the red pill.So, when answering this question, consider the possible ramifications/consequences of choosing your pill.So, when choosing, choose wisely and consider the consequences of your actions.
- Are you content with knowing that you could die at any moment from those machines that are trying to kill you?
- What if Neo is NOT the One and you've sacrificed yourself for nothing?
- Obviously, if you choose the blue pill and you go back into the Matrix, would you be able to live w/ yourself w/ the knowledge that you had the answers at your fingertips and you let them go (for whatever reasons - fear, apathy, etc.)?
350 words minimum. Post your answers here below (Comments). Due Wednesday, May 31 by 11:59 p.m.
Please read this article and make some references to it in your answer: https://www.wired.com/story/matrix-red-pill-vs-blue-pill/
Also, in the past few years, the term, red pill, has taken on a whole new meaning in masculinity circles. Here's an article about that - https://hypebae.com/2022/10/tiktok-video-red-pill-blue-pill-matrix-andrew-tate-lil-nas-x
Nathan
ReplyDeleteIf I was given the choice I think I would choose the red pill. I would like an opportunity to go into space and try to find the truths of the universe. If I took the blue pill and all my encounters with the Matrix felt like dreams and I kept having those dreams, I feel like after a while I would start to think that my dream world is the real world. Like Chuang Tzu and his butterfly dream, I would start to wonder which is real. Am I a person in the real world with dreams of the Matrix? Or am I someone in the Matrix with dreams of the real world? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I had recurring dreams about this world that I don’t know anything about. After taking the red pill, even if I died soon after, I would know that I am dying for a cause that I believe in and a cause that I know I am trying to fight. With this in mind, I would for sure be content with knowing I could die at any time from the machines trying to kill me. Right now, obviously I would not be content if I was dying for some sort of cause in the world right now. But, if I was living in a fake world like the Matrix and I knew for sure that everything I thought to be true was fake, I think I would have no problem dying for that cause. However, if in this world I was living in and we weren’t sure Neo was the One, I’m not sure I would be totally ok with sacrificing myself for this cause. I think I would still sacrifice or be willing to sacrifice myself for this cause. I think the question is kind of flawed because how would I know that Neo wasn’t the One if I was dead? Unless I was in some sort of afterlife. I’m sure if I was in some sort of afterlife like Heaven I wouldn’t care that I died that much because I had already made it to the afterlife.
If I chose the blue pill, I could never live with myself and the things I wouldn’t know. I think after a couple years I would eventually forget about it and I would be fine with the world I lived in. Everything would be normal in my life so after a while I wouldn’t question anything. If I was in the Matrix and I took the blue pill, I would forget everything though and I would go back to living a normal life.
Enzo-
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely take the red pill if applying what each of them would mean in today’s reality. I can’t be sure what I would have done in the heat of the moment in the Matrix however, because with the red pill, even though things would be rough and dangerous, I could be reassured that I am living in the real world and that I have some form of purpose in true reality (unless it’s like Inception and there’s multiple layers), but I would also be abandoning friends and family behind. Even though family might not be biologically related in the Matrix, they would worry and I would miss them. Even though the world may have been fake, the memories, and the life lived was real enough, because everything I’ve done has made me who I am and has affected me and others, and that makes it real enough to me and those around me. Both sides have their pros and cons, and I’m not sure which one I’d choose. In response to the question about what it would feel like if I found out Neo wasn’t the One, well, that’s very similar to religion, is it not? You have to take a leap of faith and believe that it may be true. And whether it’s true or not, it gives you something to believe in, and when you believe in something you fight harder. Therefore, if I found out Neo wasn’t the One, I would continue fighting for the cause, but find something else to believe in to make me continue fighting.
In today’s world, I would take the red pill without hesitation. I agree with the point made in the debate that being aware of the truth of institutions and of the issues of the system we live in doesn’t fix the problem or let you fix things outside of the system, but with knowledge you can discover how you can fight a bad system from within it. You can discover loopholes in said system, and exploit those so that you can effectively fight it. As they also said and as it has been quoted a lot, knowledge is power. In addition, with great power does come great responsibility. Once you have the knowledge of the system and how to fight it, you have a responsibility to fight it (I believe Locke said something of the sort). Also, the way I see it, the red pill would also allow you to see the truth in situations in daily life, as is much needed when navigating the internet. It would be incredibly useful in this day and age to look at information and be able to know whether it’s true or something trolls pass off as “red-pilling”.
If I was in the Matrix, I think I would've chosen the blue pill. Though this may be different than what most people would say, I think it would be the best option for me personally. If I had taken the red pill, then I would've had to feel like the whole world was depending on me to save them from the robots, which is a huge burden to carry. I also think that if I am living in a simulation, but my simulation is a good life with good friends and family, then why would I want to be woken up into a dark world where robots have taken over and I have a fear of dying any second. Also, Morpheus described the possibility of Neo just waking up and thinking it was all a dream, so he wouldn't have to feel that he was so close to figuring out something and just woke up. I think it would be best for me if I just thought the whole encounter was a dream and didn't really think much of it for the rest of my life. There is also a possibility that Neo is not the chosen one, and that he will not save us from the Matrix. This could cause me to be sent into the real world with no escape and no protection from the AI. A consequence of my action could be that I wont perceive the encounter with Morpheus a dream, and will live my whole life questioning my very existence. This would be unbearable to live with. The more I think about it, the more I lean towards the idea of choosing the red pill. I think that there are consequences to both though. I consequence of choosing the red pill is the possibility that you will have to live your life in fear. I would have to be afraid that the Agents would be tracking me down every second I was in the Matrix, and while I was in the real world, I would have to be afraid that the robots were going to find me and be carried with the burden of trying to save the human race from the slavery that AI has put us in.
ReplyDeleteIf given the choice I would take the red pill. I think after finding out that the reality I live in was fake, I would immediately go to find what the real world looks like. If I had learned about how the matrix I was living in was fake, I wouldn’t stop questioning what the real world looked like. I’m sure if I tried to tell people that the world was fake, they would look at me like I was crazy. I think knowing the truth in any situation is the best option and relying on fake answers can be detrimental to how someone lives. If I were to take the blue pill, I would probably think over and over that this isn’t the real reality, but couldn’t do anything about it and try to find out what the real world was. I think knowing the most you can know is very important and being knowledgeable in everything around you is important, so taking the red pill would let me know that everything around me and what I grew up in was fake. I could start learning more about what was actually real and what wasn’t. I also don’t think taking the blue pill is necessarily a bad thing either. I think being fine in what way you were living in the matrix can be good too. But for example, Cypher was trying to get back in the matrix to be rich and powerful, so trying to manipulate your life in the matrix and not letting everybody know that the world is fake is a disadvantage in living in the matrix. Also, if I were to know that you could learn many different things just by being plugged in, I think that would be really cool to do. Learning multiple fighting techniques like kung fu and taekwondo would be really unique to have and many people in the matrix probably wouldn’t have had that. I think in real life there are ways to take the red pill literally. I think getting off of social media and doing most activities off of your phone could be a real way to connect with the world around you and what’s know what’s really going on.
ReplyDeleteIf I were in the movie Matrix I think that I would choose the blue pill because I know that with my personality I would be first traumatized to know all the things that are occurring in the real world. I would also be afraid that if I took the Red pill I wouldn’t be able to find a solution to change the situation. I wouldn’t want to have the pressure of everybody telling me that if I don’t succeed everything would be worse. In my point of view it’s all a question of perception because you have the choice to say what world is real, if you want the simulation to be the true world it will be it but if you think the real world is the Matrix then it will be the real world.Even if the Red pill could make me save everybody and change the world, all those robots that will be trying to kill me because I know the truth. I really don't think that I would be content to know that robots are trying to kill me because that would probably stop me from taking the Red pill, living in a dream would be easier in my opinion. If Neo wasn’t the one and that I’ve sacrificed myself for nothing I would be pretty mad because all the dangers that are in this real world could kill me and put me in danger for something that wouldn’t have worked. I think that if I know about the Matrix I will tell someone about it that could help resolve the problem more efficiently.
ReplyDeleteClara
Which pill would you have taken and why?
ReplyDeleteI would have taken the red pill because I would want to know the truth about my world, I think that my curiosity would get the best of me and cause me to take it. I also don't believe that I would be content with knowing that my world was fake so I would do everything in my power to find the real world, like how Neo made an effort to find Morpheus. Even if I knew that life in the real world was not as glamorous as life in the matrix, I would even still take it because I wouldn't be able to get over the fact that what I'm doing isn't real. I think that I would be ok with living with the risk of being killed by the machines because at least I will have actually lived, unlike the people who aren't in the real world. If the machines were to kill me, I would hope that the sacrifice of my death would at least help the resistance to eventually defeat the machines. I think that even if you are not the one, and you have sacrificed everything, I don't think it was for nothing, because the sacrifice of your life would still have helped the resistance and later lead to the discovery of the one, and the defeat of AI. if I chose the blue pill and was put back into the matrix, I would probably not be able to live with myself and the fact that I would never know the truth. I think that I would probably go crazy, and start to search for the truth and another way to get out of the matrix. I also think that your choice of either the blue pill or the red pill would depend on how content you feel with your life within the matrix. If you were to feel happy and loved and comfortable in the world that you know, I think that the decision to leave or stay would be harder to make. Even taking this into consideration though, I would still choose the red pill because I would want to know the truth.
Nina
Ellie
ReplyDeleteI would take the blue pill and live in ignorant bliss. I have said this before in class, but even if we do not have free will, I would like to believe that I do. Sure, to the people outside of the Matrix, the Matrix seems like a prison, but if you have lived in the Matrix your whole life, it is your reality. I do think it is important to theorize possibilities and discover other truths of the world, however, personally, this is one truth I do not want or need the answer to.
I feel that if I were to know for sure the truth of the Matrix, then life, my life that I have been living, would lose all meaning. You sort of see this with Neo in the movie. In the car, Neo points at a place he used to eat and then says something along the lines of, “But that was not really real, was it? My whole life, all of my memories were not really real.” I feel like they kind of glossed over that part. That would be, at least for me, a very devastating experience to see everything that was real to me in a new light. All that matters to me is that my life is real to me. Even if the world I am living and breathing in today is not real, I believe it is, and that is enough for me.
If I were to wake up after taking the blue pill, the “dream” of Morpheus would be the same as anyone's dream with Aliens or God.
Is the truth really worth pursuing? I think so. However, as I previously mentioned, the only truth that holds any gravity and matters at all is your own truth.