We Are Really Living in The Matrix, It’s Just Not What You Think It Is

Are you in the Matrix right now?

The Matrix was a phenomenal movie not just because of the cool concept, but because of the memorable characters and the incredible way they shot the action scenes. Since it was such a memorable movie, not only has the term “red pilled’ taken on a greater meaning in our society, but you hear people talk a lot about being “caught in The Matrix.” Usually, it’s just used as a metaphor for being caught up in, “the system.” You know, the government or the shadowy forces allayed against us.

I like The Matrix metaphor and I think a lot of people are caught up in it, but it’s not quite like humans sleeping in tubes and being used as batteries from the movie or some kind of worldwide conspiracy to keep them from succeeding. However, you might be surprised at how similar the REAL MATRIX I’m going to describe is to those two concepts.

So, let’s go back to the movie. Not one of the classic scenes, but to what, at first at least, seems like a fairly forgettable scene.

It’s when Cypher decides to sell out.

Who was Cypher in the movie? We really don’t get to know all the ins and outs of Cypher’s life, but we do know a few things about him. He had been awakened from his battery tube and was very aware of the difference between the real world and the fake one. Also, even though he wasn’t one of the lead characters, he was actually doing important work. He was on a ship fighting to save humanity. Yet, he very deliberately chose to give up on all that, even kill his friends, so that he could go back to living a fake life in The Matrix instead. When he discusses selling out with Agent Smith, he says:

“I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, The Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years you know what I realized? Ignorance is bliss. ...And I want to be rich, you know someone important, like an actor.”

Sure, life in the real world wasn’t fun for Cypher. He complained that Morpheus ordered him around all the time. What they were doing was unquestionably dangerous. They also lived a plain, no-frills life. Their living conditions were cramped and very basic. But it was at least real. Why would Cypher give that up?

Well, that begs the question; Why do so many of us give that up?

Don’t know what I mean?

Well, how many people’s lives look something like this pretty much every day?

They get up. They immediately look at their cell phone. They check their email. They respond to a couple of texts. Check an app. Shower, brush their teeth, wolf down some breakfast, and hop in the car where they listen to music as they drive to Starbucks. They get their $7 cup of coffee and head to work. They work all day doing a job that they care nothing about, but that pays their bills. During that time, they frequently look at their cell phone and sneak onto the Internet to play a game, pop into a chat room or read some outrage bait headlines designed to piss them off. They finish work, listen to music while they go through the drive-thru at McDonald’s, and then they head home. Finally! It’s time to relax! They smoke a little weed or drink a few beers. They hop onto social media, see a dozen things designed to piss them off. They insult a few people. They watch a little TV. They play some video games for a couple of hours. Then, they look at some porn, maybe try to get some girl’s attention on OnlyFans, then pop onto Ikea to look for a new living room set, watch a few videos on YouTube about football, the latest celebrity gossip, political controversies and how you’re nothing if you don’t have a mansion and a Bugatti. Then, they go to bed and get some rest, so they can get up and do the same thing again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.

What is that a description of exactly? It’s a description of a person that is caught in THE MATRIX. It’s a description of someone living in a fake reality where they’re being used to achieve other people’s dreams without having their own.

They work for someone else, furthering their dreams and making them money, even though it just pays enough money to tread water.

They’re a slave to their phone. It beeps, it boops and they pick it up to see what it wants.

They listen to songs that other people created, while they create nothing. 

They use drugs or alcohol to alter their state and make their meaningless life tolerable.

They have their desire for a relationship and sexual urges fulfilled via porn and simulated relationships on OnlyFans, not through a real relationship.

They watch actors and sports stars fulfilling their dreams on TV, but they’re not chasing their own dreams.

They get outraged and angry which helps further the agendas of politicians, activists, and media personalities, but they don’t even know what their own agenda is, much less have a plan to fulfill it.

They look at cool houses, cars, and furniture and they want it, but why do they want it? Because they really want it deep down in their souls or because they’ve been told that people who have things like that are “cool?” Do you want the 3,000-square-foot house because you have a wife and four kids or is it because you’ve always been told you’re supposed to want a big house?

That’s a description of a purposeless, consumerist cog in the wheel of other people’s dreams and desires without furthering your own style of living. Like the human beings used as batteries in The Matrix, they’re a small, collective part of a big agenda that ultimately does nothing for their lives.

Look at people that live this way. What’s their purpose? What are their dreams? What are they building? What relationships are they creating? How are they bettering themselves?

This is a person that could be a father with a brood of kids. They could be saving lives as a surgeon and getting a kick out of it every time. They could be building their own multi-million-dollar business. Working their way up to a 500-pound squat. Dating the love of their life. Running a dog rescue that makes the lives of thousands of dogs better. Making a farm into a success that they’ll pass down to their son. Learning a computer language that will allow them to get a $ 100,000-a-year job in Silicon Valley. Becoming a crack shot with a rifle so they can hunt elk. Getting into the best shape of their lives. Writing a script for a TV show. Cleaning up an abandoned playground so all the kids in their area can play there again.

However, they’re not doing any of these things because they’re living in a fog, in The Matrix, in a way that will leave them looking back 20 years later and going, “What did I do with the last two decades of my life?”

Nobody has to live their life like that. Nobody SHOULD live their life like that.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying, “Don’t ever work for other people” or “Don’t ever have a good time,” but I am saying wake yourself up from that techno fog too many of us live in where you move from meaningless distraction to meaningless distraction, all day long instead of finding your purpose, pursuing your dreams, and making life better for yourself and the people around you. It has never been easier than it is today to just get comfortable and waste your life away for nothing.

Don’t do it. Take that red pill, break out of The Matrix, learn to get uncomfortable, and become everything you have the potential to be.

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