For me, this raised a lot of questions about the ethics of the Matrix program itself. Is it morally right to keep people ignorant when the truth would be hard for them to accept? Where do you draw the line between honesty versus protecting someone from the truth?
I'm finding a lot of parallels between the Matrix and a situation that was brought up during an ethics discussion in my ITGS class. In the future, through scientific discovery, people are given the choice to live in their own perfect simulated dream worlds or the real world. Similar to the Matrix, everything about this world may seem very real, but in reality all of it is a complete illusion.
As a class, we were faced with the same decisions. Would we want to live in a perfect fantasy world or in the real world? In the Matrix, the people aren't given the option to choose. Would they be better off with the freedom to choose given the possibility that that the choice may cause them unhappiness and suffering? Is it better that they would never know such suffering? Where do you draw the line? Should there ever be a line drawn?
So true Andrea. I agree that the Matrix addresses the issue of telling the truth about the world vs. leaving people in the dark. However, we have to remember that in the movie it would have been very dangerous to let an adult into the real world, because the shock would have killed them or whatever. So it wasn't only a moral issue, there were other reasons involved with the decision to leave most people in the dark about the matrix. It's interesting though, because I actually just read an essay in my english 101 class about integrity vs.honesty. The essay talked about how honesty wasn't the only qualification in integrity; one could be honest, yet not have integrity. The example given in the essay was, that a man told his wife that he had cheated on her 35 years (or something like that) ago, when he was on his death bed. He was being honest, but did not have integrity when saying this. He was telling her most likely to simply rid himself of the guilt, so that he could die knowing he'd told the truth and unburdened himself. However, he left his wife in a good deal of pain- imagine finding out your spouse cheated on you, on their death bed. How would you feel? You would probably have conflicted feelings, and your memory of them would be scarred. By telling the people in the matrix that what they were living was a lie, yes they would know the truth- but many would rather not know it. For example, there was that character in the steak scene who made a deal with 'the agents' to pass on information so that he could be allowed to return to the matrix and not remember a thing about the real world. Just as you said, Andrea, would it be ethical to take them out of the matrix unknowingly and have them face the awful truth, when perhaps they would wish to never have known the truth? I think the main character, don't remember his name, but the main character had a slightly different situation. He knew there was something wrong in the life he was living. He had heard of the matrix. Personally I think it would have been ethical to take someone out of the matrix had they known some about it, such as him, or perhaps were a child. As a child, you are constantly adapting and learning about the things around you, and a child would be less emotionally strained if they were taken out of the matrix, I feel. Is the truth better, or is a blissful life of innocence being unaware better? In school, we burden children with the hard truths of history- the holocaust for example. Though it may have been easier to go through life not knowing of the horrors humankind can do, society deems it important that we do know about them. Why? I think it's for our safety. As the saying goes, we should 'learn from our mistakes.' By learning of our history, and the unpleasant wars and unjust crimes committed that happened in it, we learn to choose a different path, and become better people. We build on our knowledge. I think it's better to know the truth, because then we can make things better. If people slowly came to know of the matrix, you would assume that many would fight back, and perhaps claim the world back from machines. However, I do think there is a line that should be drawn, in response to Andrea's question. Sometimes, it is just better not to know.
I agree, with Marlys. A line should be drawn, but in different situations its hard to determine what should or should not be known. In the matrix a persons entire world was fake, they lived a life that was unreal. No matter what part of life I was in I would want to know the truth about the world I lived. With the idea to one day make a change. However, everyone is different and a lot of people would not accept reality and do what they could go go back to what they know and love. As we saw this within the movie, there will always be complications. It makes me wonder if true bliss really exist?
I also agree with you guys, we dont know what is right or wrong for everybody else. If we tell a person the truth then they might accept it and endure it but if the person does not accept it would we have made the wrong choice to tell them? We cant decide for other people and we definatly dont know what is right or wrong about it. For one, people have the right to know the truth and to live it by any means but, when we make the choice to keep them ignorant of the truth do we really have the right to let them live the truth and to keep them only satisfied by shadows in the darkness of knowledge. It makes me think if we truelly live what we are living or if its just a make believe world where nothing really exists.
I think that deliberately keep the truth from someone, especially something as large as the matrix is morally wrong. Every person deserves the right to at least know that the life they are living isn't real, weather they choose to except it and live differently or choose to disbelieve it and continue with life. It is not anyones responsibility to keep reality from someone because they may not like what it is. Who has the power to keep the truth from someone?
For me, this raised a lot of questions about the ethics of the Matrix program itself. Is it morally right to keep people ignorant when the truth would be hard for them to accept? Where do you draw the line between honesty versus protecting someone from the truth?
ReplyDeleteI'm finding a lot of parallels between the Matrix and a situation that was brought up during an ethics discussion in my ITGS class. In the future, through scientific discovery, people are given the choice to live in their own perfect simulated dream worlds or the real world. Similar to the Matrix, everything about this world may seem very real, but in reality all of it is a complete illusion.
As a class, we were faced with the same decisions. Would we want to live in a perfect fantasy world or in the real world? In the Matrix, the people aren't given the option to choose. Would they be better off with the freedom to choose given the possibility that that the choice may cause them unhappiness and suffering? Is it better that they would never know such suffering? Where do you draw the line? Should there ever be a line drawn?
So true Andrea. I agree that the Matrix addresses the issue of telling the truth about the world vs. leaving people in the dark. However, we have to remember that in the movie it would have been very dangerous to let an adult into the real world, because the shock would have killed them or whatever. So it wasn't only a moral issue, there were other reasons involved with the decision to leave most people in the dark about the matrix.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting though, because I actually just read an essay in my english 101 class about integrity vs.honesty. The essay talked about how honesty wasn't the only qualification in integrity; one could be honest, yet not have integrity. The example given in the essay was, that a man told his wife that he had cheated on her 35 years (or something like that) ago, when he was on his death bed. He was being honest, but did not have integrity when saying this. He was telling her most likely to simply rid himself of the guilt, so that he could die knowing he'd told the truth and unburdened himself. However, he left his wife in a good deal of pain- imagine finding out your spouse cheated on you, on their death bed. How would you feel? You would probably have conflicted feelings, and your memory of them would be scarred.
By telling the people in the matrix that what they were living was a lie, yes they would know the truth- but many would rather not know it. For example, there was that character in the steak scene who made a deal with 'the agents' to pass on information so that he could be allowed to return to the matrix and not remember a thing about the real world. Just as you said, Andrea, would it be ethical to take them out of the matrix unknowingly and have them face the awful truth, when perhaps they would wish to never have known the truth? I think the main character, don't remember his name, but the main character had a slightly different situation. He knew there was something wrong in the life he was living. He had heard of the matrix. Personally I think it would have been ethical to take someone out of the matrix had they known some about it, such as him, or perhaps were a child. As a child, you are constantly adapting and learning about the things around you, and a child would be less emotionally strained if they were taken out of the matrix, I feel.
Is the truth better, or is a blissful life of innocence being unaware better? In school, we burden children with the hard truths of history- the holocaust for example. Though it may have been easier to go through life not knowing of the horrors humankind can do, society deems it important that we do know about them. Why? I think it's for our safety. As the saying goes, we should 'learn from our mistakes.' By learning of our history, and the unpleasant wars and unjust crimes committed that happened in it, we learn to choose a different path, and become better people. We build on our knowledge. I think it's better to know the truth, because then we can make things better. If people slowly came to know of the matrix, you would assume that many would fight back, and perhaps claim the world back from machines. However, I do think there is a line that should be drawn, in response to Andrea's question. Sometimes, it is just better not to know.
I agree, with Marlys. A line should be drawn, but in different situations its hard to determine what should or should not be known. In the matrix a persons entire world was fake, they lived a life that was unreal. No matter what part of life I was in I would want to know the truth about the world I lived. With the idea to one day make a change. However, everyone is different and a lot of people would not accept reality and do what they could go go back to what they know and love. As we saw this within the movie, there will always be complications. It makes me wonder if true bliss really exist?
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you guys, we dont know what is right or wrong for everybody else. If we tell a person the truth then they might accept it and endure it but if the person does not accept it would we have made the wrong choice to tell them? We cant decide for other people and we definatly dont know what is right or wrong about it. For one, people have the right to know the truth and to live it by any means but, when we make the choice to keep them ignorant of the truth do we really have the right to let them live the truth and to keep them only satisfied by shadows in the darkness of knowledge. It makes me think if we truelly live what we are living or if its just a make believe world where nothing really exists.
ReplyDeleteI think that deliberately keep the truth from someone, especially something as large as the matrix is morally wrong. Every person deserves the right to at least know that the life they are living isn't real, weather they choose to except it and live differently or choose to disbelieve it and continue with life. It is not anyones responsibility to keep reality from someone because they may not like what it is. Who has the power to keep the truth from someone?
ReplyDelete