Ignorance Is Bliss

Personally I wouldn't say that, I'd much sooner say something like "doubt keeps the mind open" or "uncertainty prevents dogma". Unless uncertainty itself becomes an obsessive goal to strife for, in which case we're lost.

_{Image by Tobias_ET - source: Pixabay}

If you're at all familiar with modern pop culture, you would have recognized the title of this article as the famous quote by the character Cypher in the 1999 movie The Matrix. This film is nothing short of brilliant, combining mind blowing action with mind blowing philosophical, religious and moral questions about the human condition. Since it's been 20 years, let me remind you what Cypher's role was in case you haven't re-watched the movie a zillion times, like myself ;-)

In the film our protagonist, Neo, learns that he's been living a lie. He learns this shocking truth after choosing the red pill when given the choice between learning the truth, or stay ignorant by taking the blue pill. The Matrix is a computer simulation of the world he's always known, and the harsh truth he wakes up to is that in reality humanity is almost destroyed completely, with almost all humans being used as batteries to feed the machines. The irony is that the humans caused this themselves by darkening the sky with an apocalyptic war, forcing the AI driven machines to look for an alternative source of energy now their previous source, the sun, wasn't available anymore.

Morpheus, his gang of freedom fighters and Neo live aboard the Nebukadnezar, and Cypher is one of the crew. Right from the start you get the feeling that he's different and that he doesn't really believe they have a chance to succeed against the machines. He jokes a lot, but only cynical jokes. When he and Neo talk privately for the first and only time during the movie, he suggests that he regrets taking the red pill; he'd much rather have stayed hooked up to the matrix.

Food aboard the Nebukadnezar is awful; some slimy substance prepared only for nutrition, not taste. It's a testament to the film's brilliance that Cypher is revealed to be a traitor to the freedom fighters while enjoying a tasty steak inside the simulation, talking to the machine's agent Smith:

You know, 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 realize? Ignorance is bliss.

_{Image by Takver - source: Flickr}

Of course Cypher dies, but only after he personally kills several crew-members in a rather horrific manner. This is as far as I'll go with retelling the film's plot; I suddenly realize there may be some of you who have never seen this film yet, and I've spoiled too much already... But if you haven't seen it yet, please do yourself a favor and correct that a.s.a.p. ;-)

I'd like to defend Cypher's position for a second here. Not to excuse his deeds, but just to try and understand why he betrays the freedom cause. I feel I have to understand Cypher's train of thought, because I think that we, as a society, have collectively taken a blue pill or aren't even aware that there's pills to choose from. Mainstream media and our repetitive daily existence are our blue pills, and if you look hard on the internet, there's the occasional red pill to be found...

From the restaurant quote we learn that Cypher has been living the dull monotonous life aboard the Nebukadnezar for nine years now. Every day the same people, the same food, the same endless fight against invincible agents and machines. "Buckle your seat-belt, Dorothy, 'cause Kansas is going bye-bye," he says right before Neo takes the red pill trip. Then we see Neo being unplugged; a pretty traumatizing experience, which Cypher experienced himself nine years ago. And what if Cypher doesn't get along with the few people in this harsh and hopeless world? Is his betrayal really that hard to understand?

Let's try a thought experiment. Let's say I have two pills; take the blue pill and you wake up in your bed with no knowledge of the pill's existence. But if you take the red pill, you'll be introduced to the truth that the world and humanity are actually destroyed, that the rich and famous few have built underground shelter-cities, with your brain, along with countless others, attached to their bio-technical A.I. running the cities affairs, while kept in a dream-state that produces the illusion of your daily life. If you knew all that in advance, which polygon-modeled pill would you take?

What I'm trying to say is that in some circumstances and for some people, ignorance really is preferable over knowing the truth. For a lot of people the suggestion that democracy is actually a charade to ease the people's minds into acceptance of corporate rule, that newspapers and TV anchors have been lying to them, that the plutocracy is a fact and that Donald Trump's hair is for real, is too scary a thought to entertain for even a second... Well, don't stop offering the red pills in any case. Here's how that's done: it's when Morpheus warms up Neo to the truth about the Matrix. I think Morpheus perfectly describes our world:

_{A Prison For Your Mind ( Red pill \ Blue Pill - It's Your Choice ! )}

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