The Matrix

Elon Musk’s recent quip that we are potentially living in a sophisticated matrix brings to mind Shams informing Rumi he is sleepwalking through life. Talking about speaking truth to power! 

The Matrix, loosely based on social-philosopher Jean Baudillard’s book Simulacra and Simulation, describes a future in which humans are on the verge of enslavement by intelligent machines. And, so, the humans adopt a scorched earth policy of burning down the planet to shut off the source of the master machines’ solar energy; think of our own global warming and the destruction by fire of the Amazon forest. The machines, in turn, start industrial farming humans in order to sustain their existence by harvesting human energy; think of the way we raise animals on industrial farms for meat consumption.

In the movie, the industrially-farmed humans are permanently plugged into a sophisticated matrix such that each human is outfitted with a unique customized software, creating the illusion they have free will when it comes to what they eat, their profession, whom they marry, and the number of children they get to have.

Baudillard then applies the premise to ask whether we are truly free, or merely the reflection of a series of inputs from a vast network that includes the influence of our family, religion, education, and political affiliation -- like puppets dancing on strings pulled by social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Google offers up most any conspiracy theory to confirm and reinforce most anyone’s belief. In our matrix, Madison Avenue is our Mecca, and consumption is our Haj. Whether we are an atheist or a God-fearing Christian, a right-leaning conservative or a left-leaning liberal, so long as we have an Amazon Prime account, we are plugged into the matrix, allowing us to shop at Whole Foods, and have whatever else we want delivered the next day. 

There is more to life than simply being a node on the network!

Wake up!

— Sina.