I wrote this for philosophy class. Tell me how you think about it. Thanks.


Wendy Quon – March 24, 2008



Most of us feel that we have options for our actions throughout the day, in big ways and in small ways. We have alternative courses of activity available to us, and it’s ultimately up to us which one we take. But, do we really have decisions or is it a predetermined choice from an unknown force? In the Matrix, the question of which pill to take illustrates the personal aspect of the decision to study philosophy. Should one live on in ignorance (and potentially bliss) or should one lead what Aristotle called “the examined life”? The choice between the red pill and the blue pill is a concise representation of this challenging question. Supposedly, in the movie, it is said that human beings live in vats many years in the future, being fed false sensory information by a giant virtual reality computer which is known as the “Matrix”. The main goal for these machines is to use humans as a source of power. In the movie, Morpheus asked Neo a question, “What is ‘real’? How do you define ‘real’?” These questions primarily target the learning of metaphysics, where philosophers have asked themselves many times, “What is a person?”, “What is the self?”, “What is the relation of my mind to my body?”, and “Am I free or is my life determined by other forces?” To makes things more interesting, an age-old philosophical question goes: “When a tree falls in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” This ancient yet compelling question asks us if what we see, hear, feel, and taste truly defines reality. When our eyes are being accustomed to something regularly, we would perceive it to be “real”. Hence the dilemma remains: to lie to one self and live a simulated life or to seek the truth - the cruel and dark truth. My decision is to seek the truth. I choose the red pill.


Who are you? What are you? Are you truly who you think you are? To justify taking the red pill, what would be the purpose of an ignorant existence? What does it mean to exist? Simply existing brings humans down to the level of objects, our physical forms. We might have a purpose in that physical existence, but where is the meaning? Existence without meaning is surely not living a life, but merely experiencing it. As Trinity says to Neo, “The Matrix cannot tell you who you are.” It is you who seeks for the answer, your identity. One of my personal quotes is, “if you wish to discover yourself, your true self, start by wandering into life”; this is similar to the Latin quote, “Know Thyself”. It is crucial to understand human behavior, morals, and thought, because ultimately to understand oneself is to understand other humans as well; it is the very self you carry; you would want to know more of the purpose, the ultimate goal of your individuality. The red pill signifies freedom, risk, doubt, and questioning. By taking the red pill, you can discover your identity by pursuing the truth and gambling your life on a reality that you have never experienced. Experience is something that one cannot live without. Experience is something that one cannot leave without.


Why is it that I would take the red pill? What was it that compels me to do so? Despite these questions, it is not about the pills, but what they stand for in these circumstances. The question is asking us whether reality, the truth, is worth pursing for. The blue pill will leave us as we are, in this life of consistent habit, of things we believe as we know and the electric impulses that tells our brain what is ‘real’. However, if we are comfortable, we do not need the truth to live. What does this mean? It means the other choice, the blue pill, represents a life of commuting to repetitive actions and events, where it appears to be your normal life. Not searching for the answer for something, would it lack a purpose? What is our ultimate goal as an individual being? From my belief, it is to find the end of our beginning. As Morpheus says to Neo,

You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.

What is this feeling? It is the passion of inquisitiveness which drives our mind to find an answer for something, rather than leaving it in the dark. I eager for knowledge, power, understanding, it doesn’t matter what it is. What matters is that I know. It is my curious mind which sets in the effect of why I take the red pill. Many people throughout the human history have questioned and enquired. It was those who provoked our society to become better, to improve, and to discover by asking simple questions of “what if?” or “why?” Who asks these questions? Ordinary people - people like you and me. They could be scientists, doctors, or even philosophers themselves. By asking these questions, it would ultimately lead us to a choice: do you continue in the investigation, or do you simply close the case and never ask again? Taking the red pill drives my passion in search for the truth in my own way - the same way of how I will find the truth, by risking, doubting, and questioning what my life and the world has to offer.


How does this choice, then, liberate me from the false pretentious “truth” perceived in the Matrix? What does it mean to be liberated? Is it beautiful as people say it is? However, despite understanding what liberty is, first we must understand what it is to be a prisoner - to be a prisoner of anything, of someone, of oneself, of one’s mind. We all naturally believe that we are free. But are we really “free”? We naturally think that the future is open to our will, in large ways as well as in small things and this is a crucial belief for most world-views. Our belief in free will is important. And it’s powerful. We all deep down want to believe that we can make a difference in this life, that we can overcome obstacles and creatively make our mark on this world. And we can’t believe in either creativity or responsibility unless we presuppose freedom. But what is this prison which I speak of? Morpheus states this clear to Neo, “That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.” It sounds quite familiar to another story, “The Allegory of the Cave”; it is a form of a parable in understanding what reality and appearance is. “If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain”, as Morpheus puts it, that the differences between the “true” reality and the “sensed” reality remain utmost important. In the story of “The Allegory of the Cave”, it tells us about a prisoner who only sees shadows and assumes them to be caused by real people who move and talk. On the day when the prisoner breaks open its chains and leaves the place, the prisoner soon discovers so much more. The prisoner soon tells the great news - that what they thought was real, wasn’t as they assumed it to be. However, the prisoner was excommunicated from its group because they have not seen what the prisoner has seen. By not discovering what significant wonders this world and life have to offer, we simply cannot say we know what we really know unless we take a look for ourselves. It is the same as what the other prisoners thought, what they saw, hear, and possibly touched; they proclaim it to be as “real”, because it is what they are limited to do so that they don’t bother to try to see beyond the cave. Establishing the awareness of what surrounds us is a common way for us to create the sense of “truth”. Is it simply by what we see or believe? When you want to believe in something, you also have to believe in everything that’s necessary for believing in it.


In essence, as exciting as it can get, I choose the red pill for what it can grant me. Even though life itself is harsh, I am not afraid of what challenges the red pill brings. Challenges and difficulties is what motivates our mind to become inspired, to drive for the better. Overall, are we philosophically driven to seek the truth? Is the act of questioning whether to seek it is, in itself, seeking the truth? Or are we commuting ourselves to not deny our consciousness, but to stop seeking the truth entirely would be to deny our consciousness? As the conscious mind prevails, we will always seek the truth. However, it is the very essence of whether to choose to find the truth that separates the two pills. Red or blue. Which one do you choose?