Taking the Blue Pill — What defines our real Truth?
What can Neo from The Matrix tell us about discovering our unquestionable Truth?
[Following is the description of a pivotal scene from the movie The Matrix (1999)]
(Mild spoilers ahead…)
The floor creaks of weakness, his dust-enveloped shoes, which surely were once black, rest upon it bleakly as his upper body, sitting on an enlarged red throne-of-a-chair, is leaning quite forward. His shoulders are pushed back, the head gouged ahead, his arms crossed, his eyes curious, and his name, Neo.
In front of him is a hovering figure, resting on his own throne of deep red, his entire structure engulfed in black overalls, the leather jacket gleaming briskly even in this dingy and dimly-lit room. His demeanor is determined, the bald head of his is a shining creature of its own, and below it, where his eyes should be, lay a band of pitch darkness, all-reflective circular black glasses that were then ricocheting his two open palms heaved forward. One showing a blue pill while the other offering a glowing red pill, both encapsulating vastly different realities within. And the man possessing these hands, named Morpheus.
The trickling of rain beyond the walls is bombarding their acoustic spectrum. The stench of wooden dampness plunges into the air surrounding. And with only a glass of water in between these two, Neo is facing a crucial choice.
Which pill should he take?
Seconds pass by in seeming eternity as he ultimately picks up the red pill, places upon his tongue which gives him a taste of bare steel, holds the water to his lips, and gulps it right down.
At that grave instant, his choice is made, his path, set, and his life is about to take a sharp turn into mind-blowing revelations that he never imagined to find.
[End of the scene description]
Surely by now, just a shy over two decades since the release of this iconic movie (The Matrix), we all must be aware that in the above-depicted scene, the main protagonist Neo famously chooses the red pill over blue, choosing to go down the infamous rabbit hole of his aching reality, and transforming into The One prophesied to end the humanity’s grave war with machines.
The blue pill in the movie’s context signifies wanting to stay in the blissful illusion for an eternity, while the red pill encapsulates a painful truth about their world which the beings of that realm forever fail to experience.
Although this is a magnificent plot device on its own, I can’t help but always wonder, what if Neo chose a different path?
What if he had decided to take the blue pill instead?
Let’s indulge into that reality for a bit.
Taking the Blue Pill (The Path Untaken)
In the vivid context of The Matrix, it makes absolute sense for the particular character of Neo to choose red over blue. Because in the blue-pill-world that he lives in, he is a nobody, a loner computer hacker by night, an abysmal worker at some multinational corporation by day. A discontent boss rallies him on a daily basis, not a single being truly cares for his existence. No family, no loving partner, not a single purpose worth living for. A forgotten existence.
If given a choice, he will unquestionably decide to jump down the rabbit hole without another thought. He has nothing to lose.
But what if he did have something to lose?
What if he had a loving wife, adorable little children that he would die for, and a job that he truly looked forward to each day of working. He would read bedtime stories to his offspring, would kiss his love goodbye and good morning each day, would be working towards his own dreams and aspirations.
If given the same choice, would he then decide to jump into a horrid reality unknowingly, trusting only a mysterious hovering figure with round glasses, upon his life?
Maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he will choose to embrace the illusion of the blue over the painful reality of the red. Because for him, the illusion is as real as it gets. For him, it will always remain the truth, his own truth.
One might say after; “He chose wrong!”. But the most fascinating thing about such a scenario is that no choice is right, and no decision is wrong. No matter which pill encapsulates his life, he will undoubtedly embrace it to the core, so it ultimately becomes his whole truth.
Take the red pill and he becomes an invincible force, fulfilling an age-old prophecy and saving humanity from the eternal enslavement of machines. Take the blue pill and he embraces his current life, live with his loving family, make connections with people, make the best of his abilities and achieve whatever dreams he wishes to.
Either way, the truth forms around his taken choice.
This is the precise predicament that boggles my mind to infinity. Not the mere concept of the two opposing realities encapsulated in contrastingly colored pills, but the apparent choice of “taking” whichever pill he wants to. He can, in the literal sense, choose his own reality!
And that my friends, whether you believe it or not, is heavily reminiscent of our own lives that we presumably live in our little “blue” world.
You may now ask.
How can this ever relate to us?
Consider a man, his entire life spent in the devotion of a superficial being that he direly believes in, his own god.
To him, this god is very real, not more than the flesh that encompasses his skin. His unmistaken pilgrimage and utter faithfulness towards his god have let him achieve all kinds of happiness in life. His prayers, done deep from his heart, have been answered time and again with contentment. He will never abandon his god, for he is finally at peace because of it. He is in love with his life, and he has no one else but his god to thank for it each living moment.
Now, consider a woman. Born with hard science and logic engraved in her head. Even though her parents strictly believe in the power and existence of the wicked supernatural, she could never wrap her head around anything that escapes the realm of factual evidence. Her beliefs truly lie in the physical world, and her whole life has been led quite happily under those beliefs at the core of her personality.
If I were to ask you; who is leading the true life? Who is right, the god-worshiping man or the facts-driven woman?
Answer is; they both are. (In their own sense)
There is nothing particularly inaccurate in believing miracles or finding the truth in factual evidence. Both are one’s form of truth, and they will be reinforced unquestionably as their lives pass by. If you believe in miracles, you will undoubtedly experience miracles! Because that is how our wicked mind is wired to work. In the end, it is our reality with always takes the center stage and claims victory over anything else.
The actual truth never matters, only what we believe to be true, does.
As we move through our individual lives, we grow and experience distinct scenarios, we start forming our own realities, our own truths, a lens through which we observe the world. Everything starts to make sense past it. This lens is direly personal and might look ridiculous to any other, but for us it is all-sensible. With every minuscule spark of thought, we consciously work to forge and fortify our truths further, nothing else seemingly even touches our reality, and that is the hauntingly beautiful nature our very mind possesses.
Ever wondered why, in this day and age, a small yet growing percentage of the population still believes that the Earth is flat? All of the evidence in the world can be given to them, yet their beliefs won’t budge, their self-constructed and forged realities won’t budge, their own truths won’t budge!
It is due to the single fact that facts do not matter, they are never enough to form our realities. Yes, this is haunting and it is beautiful. The sheer power of our own realities can seldom surpass any logic or sense!
Sure, this may seem like a grave flaw of the human mind at first, but what if I were to tell you that this could very well be the greatest strength of our minds ever to exist!
If only one could use it in the right light, the course of their lives can transform unfathomably. If one could harness this power and choose a reality they want to, a truth that will make their lives better, then nothing unachievable would ever exist. And I am here, writing this piece, only to inform you that this is entirely achievable.
Think of those who were plainly ordinary among us, who have then managed to reach extraordinary heights, and have only done so by purely choosing their realities, forging their own truths into achieving those heights. Nothing else broke them, no form of failure or criticism tore them, only made them stronger, only made their original belief truer in every form. The simple fact of “taking” the pill they wished for, transformed their lives into what they wished for. So, what is stopping us?
They all ultimately gulped down the blue pill, because in my opinion, the blue pill does not solely signify a blissful illusion of truth, but it also encapsulates all of the remaining realities that are not lying within the red pill. So many truths to choose from!
So, what can we conclude from this?
The power of our beliefs, our realities, our truths is astounding. And the act of choosing them truly elevates it all into a realm of the unstoppable. The actual truth hardly matters, as long as we believe it to be true. But what kind of truth we conform to, that is our sacred choice. And that is always our choice.
For me, I choose to be more patient with people, be more considerate, improve my craft, improve my listening ability, increase my tolerance, learn to be a better writer, and reach millions through it (possibly), and overall, I choose to be a better person. These are my choices, my realities that I want to achieve, my truths that will forge relentlessly over time. Choosing this does not make me right or wrong in any context. They are just conscious choices that I made for my own betterment.
My question to you now would be this;
What reality do you choose to believe in? Which pill are you going to “take”? How are you going to transform your life through this choice?
Think hard and answer.
I hope this quintessential post instills grave thought among my readers and makes one realize the life-altering philosophies that seldom hide under the most mundane of things within our daily lives.
For we only grasp a tiny sliver of the infinite world through the filter of our finite senses. What lays beyond, we may never know.
I wish for you all to stay safe and have a great life ahead. Please leave your claps and thoughts in the comments below. I would really appreciate it!
Since I am not eligible for Partner Program, I cannot make money directly through this platform even after well-crossing over 100 followers. If you wish to support me, please visit my Ko-fi page and buy me a coffee :)
https://ko-fi.com/haroon_qureshi
For knowing the full details of why I am still not eligible, please read the below post:
You may also like:
And if you wish to read more articles like these, do follow my publication; Thoughts of a Human.
See you in the next post!
