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2006年08月06日

Red Meds, Matrix Style

I really try to abstract myself from the procedural existence we perceive by default. It has allowed me to achieve many goals and weather some of the tougher periods in my life. The whole world is focused on making you fit into a simple role. Some people are content with that role. They have an enviable situation. Some are not content and they transcend the channel. Many, however, are stuck in life with some foggy notion, or perhaps a clear one, that there is a better way but they still cannot escape.

The movie The Matrix popularized, or re-popularized, or corrupted — depending on your degree of ideological snobbery — the notion of our perception of reality. But I'm a philanderer, not a philosopher so I will refrain from delving into the details of the supposition save for this summary: Taking the red pill gets you out of the fake reality.

Here is the line from the character Morpheus in the movie:
“You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”

The implication is that, once attaining awareness of your predicament, getting out of the fake reality and into the dark, disturbing, dangerous but powerful “real reality” is merely a decision. I think the self help industry perpetuates this myth. The myth is that power is acheived simply through choice.

Unfortunately for those of us still in the Matrix, the red pill is really a suppository which (unless you're French) is a lot more difficult to “swallow”. Besides an enormous emotional commitment to rejecting accepted reality, it takes a lot of hard work. And even then, you might still end up back in the machine.

Take Ben Foster who quit his senior product manager job at eBay to play online poker full time. Playing eight simultaneous games an hour and winning $10 - $15 per game he can rack up quite an annual salary from this unorthodox job.

In some ways, of course, it's like the story of the two campers surprised by a bear. One of them grabs his trainers. “Are you nuts?” says the other guy. “You'll never be able to outrun a bear.” “I don't need to,” says the first. “I only need to outrun you.”

Ben Foster does not need to be an exceptional poker player. He just needs to be better than average. The red pill philosophy would have you quit your day job and go play poker online. If I did that, even if I could withstand the social pressure, I would merely be contributing to Ben Foster's bottom line. You probably would be too. We're the ones without sneakers. It takes quite a commitment to snubbing the in-laws and playing poker to forge your new reality.

There is a great inventor who took the red pill. The man who invented the electric light bulb. That's right, Henry Woodward. Look where that got him. It was Edison who took the red suppository and commercialised it.

Steve Pavlina, the current solution to all my problems, is an advocate of taking the red pill. In fact, the way he experiments with his life and his relentless pursuit of self improvement leads me to believe he's a dealer. His site, which cost him $9 to start, now generates over $200 per day on nothing but the power of his sword ... I mean pen. Again, his red pill was no Flinstone chewable. He's a very motivated and determined individual. If you want the same level of achievement he reaches, it's all laid out for you to follow, but the reams of documentation indicate it's not simply a simple decision.

Despite the difficulties, if you want out of reality, you have to try. Heaps of unsuccessful effort are better than acquiescing to your mental captor. So wake up and take hold, lest the moment pass, grab that red pill, and stuff it up your... mouth.

Posted by William at 2006年08月06日 07:56

Comments

Posted by: Jason at 2006年09月14日 09:34