You know the question?

As much as I hate to quote the Matrix (it seems cliché by now), lately I've been understanding it better, or at least I think I do. Here's the point that's been playing through my head:

It's that feeling you have had all your life. That feeling that something was wrong with the world. You don't know what it is but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad

Call me crazy or paranoid or whatever... but when I look around at the world, when I think about reality itself, something seems wrong. I'm not alone in this, as a friend of mine feels the same way, who I won't name at this point. The thing is, none of this seems real, like the life I'm leading, the people I meet, my very belief system, is all an illusion.

Does any of this matter? Perhaps it does, but I don't think it makes it any more substantial. Morpheus made a point that seems very personal to me. Those that know me know that I'm not entirely sane (I'm on plenty of meds). All this stuff.... its a splinter in my mind, driving me mad.

Does anyone share in this feeling, this suspicion? I'm very interested to hear what you think about this.

Of course it isn't real. None of it is. We just dream up things based on experiences we had, mostly without even thinking about it and call it real.

Read "Watchmen" by Alan Moore. Pay attention to Rorshach.

The problem with feeling that way is that there is no Morpheus to wake us up..

The weird disconnection that can be felt, I think, is because we are seeing life from one perspective, and yet there are everyone else's at the same time. We know our position in relation to others, and for that reason we can see ourselves from an outside view while also seeing it from our view.

At least.. that's my theory.. :dry:

Firstly I just love the matrix. Saw the first one like 6 times at the cinema.

So does this all matter? Well Neo's actions in the matrix certainly did. They had real life consequence out side of it. Would he have ever woken up without the right actions? Check religions and you'll see the same theme. In Christianity wether you win or lose is irrelevant. This life is just a test of character to determin if you are worthy of the next life just like Neo. The same can be said of karma (rebirth karma not my name is Earl karma).

The people in the matrix were real too. They are plugged into a tank just like Neo once was. I may not feel real to you but then your the centre of your universe and I'm the centre of mine.

So your actions matter and people are real. So what isn't real that is that splinter in your mind. As explain in the movie it is the system in which you live that is designed to turn you into a slave aka a battery in the Matrix. The system isn't real but designed for control. Now consider money and the financial system. It certainly controls us but is it real? It is more or less created out of thin air (see fractional reserve system) then introduced into society as interest bearing debt. Even if you gave all the money back you'd still owe money due to the interest. Interest also creates money out of thin air too but again it creates it as debt for us and credit for then. Have a think about how much control those blips on a computer screen, that represents your bank account, really controls you and then find out who all the nations of the world are indebted too.

As it was said in the movie. Welcome to the valley of the real.

Since disclaimers can be helpful, my answers are to the question and not the person asking :silly:

I'd say perception is not fixed, and what science call delusions are just radically different models of perception.... and those can be delightful or crippling. Remembering curiosity is a big driver for learning, entertaining alternative views of reality can entrench them over time, loosen the proverbial screws, but I'm not suggesting thats a bad thing - if given a sandbox, you might as well use it, the problem is not so much whats buried but getting splinters from the damn box.

If its driving you mad, are you focusing too much on negative events? If doing that at the expense of seating awareness in the reality that nature has always been insanely violent together with an absence of contemplating positive events, I think it can feed the subconscious to generate a pessimistic position which can quite easily overcome ones most efficient and effective instinctive responses, and influence perception to the detriment of health and wellbeing.

I tend to think confusion/madness comes from the subconscious having different agenda's to how one is trying to live ones life. My first thought is 'who's the boss', and exercise a trusted relationship with the subconscious through things like meditation.

It's generally safest IMO to use something which is too positive, rather then use something which is too negative to entrain oneself - as quite simply reality will seat a positive person back to earth easily, while reality can drive a negative person to errr heck might as well call it the dark side!! Lol. The other option could be exercise poles to achieve some balance using imagination or directed focus in sets of specific research/contemplation.

These are just my thoughts as I'm not sure how far perception can be trusted. If all else fails perhaps just fall back onto the empirical view of the world, for it is most likely to remain 'stable' - stable is probably the wrong word for the physical world though
:S

For those more interested in the symbolism of the Matrix Here is a link.

And finally to end a biblical quote

Proverbs 6:9
How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

I'm a big fan of the first Matrix too (no so enthusiastic about the later 2). I also love the book of Proverbs I like this verse:

17:27 The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint,
and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.
17:28 Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,
and discerning if they hold their tongues.

But I digress... I'm encouraged by your replies. I thought perhaps people would think I've lost it, LOL. I don't really see these realizations as negative or even positive. I think those concepts are also illusions.

I coined a phrase, and it seems relevant here: There is a fine line between insight and insanity.

As for Rorshach, I did like the Watchmen movie. I like the one joke he told:

I heard a joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Life seems harsh, and cruel. Says he feels all alone in threatening world. Doctor says: "Treatment is simple. The great clown - Pagliacci - is in town. Go see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. "But doctor..." he says "I am Pagliacci." Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains.

Morpheus: the god of dreams (Greece).

I was talking with Jon one time, and said "That none of this matters", referring to a particular thing in our conversation...

As he said, "what matters is what we make matter"...

And I agree...

What is illusion (IMO) is our perception on all of this... Our chattering about Jedi/Sith, Light/Dark, but we are creatures looking for understanding, for patterns, and we can help ourselves...

We are here... So we should be doing our best...

When I am walking somewhere, and I see a piece of trash, I pick it up... I actually feel bad when I cannot due to traffic, or preoccupation with something else and I notice I miss something...

Paying attention to things, to our impact, is what is important, I think, lol...

The likelihood of any of us being the savior of mankind is very slim (recent jedi messiah excluded, lol) as individuals, but together we will be...

We all know that picking up trash is important, but sometimes we forget that these little things can add up...

Excuse the video quality, lol...

It's that feeling you have had all your life. That feeling that something was wrong with the world. You don't know what it is but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad

You're a unique person seeing things through your own filters, so of course some things seem "wrong with the world". There are things wrong with the world. Lots of things are wrong with the world. SO WHAT!

Be your own person, do your best, live well, love, be happy.

It's only a movie. One of my favorite movies but just a movie.