In the article "Red pill or Blue pill; Is Ignorance Bliss? adapted from " The Matrix, Liberal education, and other splinters in the mind" by Christine Cornell and Patrick Malcolmson the authors begin with a comparison with The Matrix and Alice's adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. Just like "Alice" Neo goes to a new world. They both (Neo & Alice) undergo a dramatic change Forcing them to think who they really are? Are they dreaming? "which life is a dream- the life they had always led or the weirdness they are now experiencing"?
The authors then continue to compare Neo and Alice going "through a mirror", Neo having to pick between the blue pill which will make him stay in the matrix or the red pill which allows him to leave the matrix and return to "normal", and Alice having the magic drink and cake.
The main thing they share is there confusion of what is real. When the "caterpiller' asked Alice "Who are you"? She replied with a "I-I hardly Know"
"The Allegory of the Cave" by Plato is about being "set free". The prisoners are fooled into thinking that the lights on the cave is the real world but really is a "shadowy world". Coming out of the cave is a agonizing existence because they are not used of that. "as Morpheus explains to Neo, His eyes hurt because he has never used them". "Freedom is not something that most people are going to be inclined towards or be receptive to".
Both the Matrix and The Allegory of the cave show the undertaking of Neo and the "prisoner" that left the cave. Cornell stated that "turning around from the world of becoming to the world of being" which to me is a symbol of life on the inside and outside of the "cave" for the prisoner. Everyday people are experiencing new things in there everyday life whether its with school, friends or relationships.
To get back to the answer of the title "Is ignorance Bliss"? I personally think it is. By us being ignorant we try to avoid endeavors stopping us from learning new things.
The authors then continue to compare Neo and Alice going "through a mirror", Neo having to pick between the blue pill which will make him stay in the matrix or the red pill which allows him to leave the matrix and return to "normal", and Alice having the magic drink and cake.
The main thing they share is there confusion of what is real. When the "caterpiller' asked Alice "Who are you"? She replied with a "I-I hardly Know"
"The Allegory of the Cave" by Plato is about being "set free". The prisoners are fooled into thinking that the lights on the cave is the real world but really is a "shadowy world". Coming out of the cave is a agonizing existence because they are not used of that. "as Morpheus explains to Neo, His eyes hurt because he has never used them". "Freedom is not something that most people are going to be inclined towards or be receptive to".
Both the Matrix and The Allegory of the cave show the undertaking of Neo and the "prisoner" that left the cave. Cornell stated that "turning around from the world of becoming to the world of being" which to me is a symbol of life on the inside and outside of the "cave" for the prisoner. Everyday people are experiencing new things in there everyday life whether its with school, friends or relationships.
To get back to the answer of the title "Is ignorance Bliss"? I personally think it is. By us being ignorant we try to avoid endeavors stopping us from learning new things.
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