It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

Do you think it is possible we live in a matrix that controls us and feeds off of us?

page: 1
2

log in

join
share:

posted on Apr, 1 2015 @ 12:54 AM
link   
I think the answer is, yes. But I am far from sure this is true. I will try to not to forget this possibility as I move towards death. But I think the best approach will be to stay aware, and hope to be able to have some control over what happens when we die.

Maybe it's an illusion that we have any control after we die, but if we do, I want to chose the path of freedom.

Sadly, I don't feel confident we will be free after we die. I think there is a force that we can not see that runs things.



posted on Apr, 1 2015 @ 01:06 AM
link   
well the question has been posed a million times here and you will find all sorts of opinions, my personal one is "nope" i do not believe that to be the case, i don't think we are living in some sort of uber realistic version of "the Sims".
The main reason? a computer simulation so huge, so detailed cannot be flawless.
My freakin firefox can't make it a week without crashing.
That does not mean that our world would bluescreen, but bugs should be expected.
I guess in our terms you could call bugs "supernatural phenomena"
Seeing a man flying, seeing people walk through walls, or diving underwater for hours at a time, all those things would be bugs.
the inconsistencies would be very visible especially with all the tech we have today.
As for not being free after we die, i really hope yo u are wrong, we are already not free in this life, i hope in the next one i can do whatever i damn well please!



posted on Apr, 1 2015 @ 01:20 AM
link   
Well of course it's possible. I mean, anything's possible. Like maybe we're just some kind of accumulated mold built up on some higher entities energy infrastructure. Who knows really, could we really even comprehend it if it was explained to us?

I'm fully open to the idea that this existence is merely some sort of simple game, more than anything. Just from places I've ended up in after having full on OBE'S. Like no judgement, no big reason for being here that I hadn't fulfilled. Just how was it, did you have fun? Was all she asked me. before being told not to talk to me, since I'd tricked my way there and wasn't ready and therefore going back, lol.

Who knows, probably just some crazy dream. Either way, I think people sometimes treat this place way to seriously sometimes, myself included. Wish I could just take my own advise and not stress out so much about reasons & purposes sometimes. Just relax, kick back and just enjoy it for what it is, but I know I never will! Like most of us, far to much ego and desire for answers to just enjoy it.



posted on Apr, 1 2015 @ 03:54 AM
link   
I have been testing both alpha and beta for an MMO for a while now and this theory has been on my mind for around a year since I first read about the the discovery of similar data code to programming in tree's and various other things.
Once you see the mechanics of an MMO you understand how this theory could be at play.
for instance, each MMO or sand box rpg game has its own style glitches, as mentioned above some will show non playable characters NPC's programmed to follow a designated path for background, floating, merged into walls or non responsive.
as the similation theory deals with our universe being a kind of sim our glitches would be relevant to our enviroment, I would consider mental illnes a bug or a glitch, as the brain is a computer itself which fires off billions of neurons a millisecond, with mental illness as we know, the various condition inhibbits the messages from being recieved in the correct way, in other words its glitching out.
once you look at it this way you could see it through history. interaction between men and gods, gods being devolopers running acionable characters for testing in the sim able to write code and create in the sim once feeble minded humans witnessed these amazing feats they would have thought they were seeing gods.



posted on Apr, 1 2015 @ 05:59 AM
link   
You might enjoy this, found it on an onion tor site, can't link it...


WHAT IS THE MATRIX?

In my opinion, The Matrix films provide the best metaphor our society has for understanding why organized evil and oppression are allowed to exist, and so I will use it for this purpose. While my interpretation isn't the only possible one, I believe it to be valid, comprehensive, and most importantly, illustrative of the message I am trying to convey.

So let's begin by discussing what the Matrix is not. The Matrix is not the physical world. As far as I'm concerned, the physical world is actually real and is in fact governed ceaselessly by the laws of physics. Conversely, the Matrix is also not the Internet, despite what many seem to believe. The Matrix spans and transcends both these worlds. It has existed since the dawn of civilization, and it will continue to exist until its collapse.

So then, what is it? Well, that's complicated. Much like in the movie, it's nearly impossible to convey the size and scope of the Matrix to someone who doesn't already see it for what it is. However, unlike the movie, I believe it is an ethical imperative to try to convey it in a literal sense, even to those who are so dependent upon the Matrix that they would fight to protect it. At worst, they won't understand or believe and will continue on about their business. In a sense, I believe Cypher was right to resent Morpheus for what he did, because Morpheus engaged in flat out trickery and deception to free people.

But I digress. The Matrix is the social structure that subordinates Humanity to its will. It is the machinery of society that exists solely to perpetuate itself, its influence, and its power independent of any human need. It insulates us from each other and ourselves through deception, and essentially transforms us into servile engines of economic and political output (power). The machines that live off this power are institutions: large corporations, governments, schools, religious institutions, and even non-profit orgs. Every institution will reach a point in its existence where its primary function becomes self-preservation and perpetuation, instead of serving human need. At this point it becomes a machine of the Matrix. For example, when they become machines, governments cease to serve people and instead seek to extend their power over them; corporations prioritize increasing shareholder value over producing quality products or otherwise serving the public good; schools view students as a means and not an end; religions equate membership with salvation (and actively oppose other teachings and even independent practice); and non-profits and charities spend more budget on fund raising activity than on their original focus. Inevitably all large institutions eventually become machines. They become too big for Humanity.

In addition to the independent self-perpetuating machines that write most of our paychecks, the Matrix has several major cooperative and more actively sinister groups of machines subsisting off of its power and directly contributing to the structure of the Matrix itself. These groups are the Military Industrial Complex, the Political Industrial Complex, the Prison Industrial Complex, the Surveillance Industrial Complex, the Media Industrial Complex, the Academic Industrial Complex, the Agricultural Industrial Complex, the Medical Industrial Complex and the major organized religions. All machines in these groups either actively oppress humanity, or enable the oppression to persist. It is through their combined efforts that the Matrix takes on some of its more distasteful qualities.

RESISTING THE MATRIX

Resistance is a mental state. The Matrix is designed to make it easy to accept what it tells you, and to make it hard to filter the Truth from the lies. Resisting the Matrix requires understanding its operating principles and assumptions, rejecting them, and helping others to do the same.

The Matrix is fascist, the Matrix is deceptive, and the Matrix is bureaucracy. The Matrix is essentially the rule of the institution over the individual, and in it, the rights of the individual are subordinate to the rights of the institution. Individuals have to believe (or at least not actively oppose the idea) that large corporations have the right to protect their profits above all else, and thus dictate policy and law. They have to believe that this law is just, moral, and seemingly based upon reason. Or, they have to feel unaffected by the law on an individual level. They have to accept the program, and be satisfied with the rewards given for doing so. They have to do their jobs, pay their taxes, and be content with their salary (at least to the point where their salary and the stability it provides are appealing enough to deter risking leaving the Matrix). Rejecting these beliefs is the first step in resisting the Matrix.

Furthermore, people must be insulated from the creative process. They have to forget that they are able to produce craft as individuals independent of large institutions, and they must feel entirely dependent upon the system to provide them with what they need. It is mostly through the violation of this principle that many who work with computers come to free themselves, or at least come to see the Matrix for what it is. Despite being products of the Matrix (for the most part), computers and the Internet enable humans to create individual works on a global scale: independent media, self-publishing, Free Software, computer music, computer art and graphics, and so on. Computers also enable independent people to communicate and build human-serving social structures outside of the Matrix.

However, note that computers aren't the only means of accomplishing this, and this time period isn't the first one of Exodus. In the 1960s, for example, people departed from the Matrix en-mass and independently created art, culture, and music, largely catalyzed by psychedelic drugs. Unfortunately, much of this structure collapsed due to a number of reasons, the main one being the hasty, ill-considered and unsustainable manner of its construction and the subsequent institutional and legal backlash. Miraculously, however, many of the core ideas have persisted, and their proliferation is largely the reason I am Aware and able to write this document today. It would seem that the present catalyst is a combination of the Internet and again psychedelics. Both of these phenomenon provide a way of disconnecting yourself from the programmed reality and assumptions of the Matrix and taking your perceptions into your own hands.

To persist, the Matrix requires control, and in democratic societies it maintains this control by filtering people's view of reality through corporate-owned mass media and television. In essence, the Matrix requires a form of thought control, but not in the science fiction sense. Instead, it achieves an effective enough manner of thought control by manufacturing consent. The large majority of the public has to "buy in". They have to believe that the news media give them an accurate picture of the world. And by and large, they do believe this. Everything the general public knows about the world, they know through the Matrix. The symbols and images the Matrix presents to them have become more real than reality itself. Hence the popularity of the ungodly abomination that is Reality TV.

Note that while some media outlets do actively promote a political agenda of domination and control, on the whole it is not through some grand conspiracy that this process (or any process of the Matrix) functions. It is simply the way mass media is organized. Mass media is a machine that exists as a profit maximizing entity, and the most profitable news (and the cheapest news to produce) is recycled soundbytes and pre-packaged press releases from corporations and government. Furthermore, in the interest of preserving its revenue stream, news media cannot allow the public to hold any opinion that may threaten the authority and policy of government or the profitability of their sponsors, which are also machines of the Matrix and almost always directly involved in the business of domination and control. Thus the media must perpetuate the status quo. No news is good news.

Understanding this bias in the media is key to undoing the filter it applies. Consider who the advertisers and sponsors are. Beware of press releases disguised as investigative reporting. When possible, confirm mainstream, corporate produced stories with coverage from places like IndyMedia (go local), Wikinews, GNN, Politech, Free Speech TV, Democracy Now, Free Speech Radio News, and FAIR. A lot of the time these sources also cover many eye-popping items that for some reason don't even receive mention on corporate news media.

Last, and most assuredly not least, the Matrix seeks to identify and know its members at all times, in a misguided attempt to maintain control. It demands total surrender of your privacy to function in it. It is by breaking this last property of the Matrix that we come to truly free ourselves from it; to create economies, communication, and culture independent of its control.

Of course, the ultimate form of resistance is to fully disconnect from any and all dependence upon and allegiance to government and institution; to remove yourself from the power structure of the Matrix, and contribute your economic output to resistance economies. It is this form of resistance that faces the most violent opposition from the Matrix, since providing this economic power is the primary function of Humanity, as it sees it.

Unfortunately for many this form of resistance is simply unattainable due to FIXMEfamily and social ties, especially starting from your first realization of the size and scope of the Matrix. However, unlike in movie, it is possible to liberate yourself gradually instead of immediately, and in some cases this can prove easier than an 'all-at-once' attempt. It starts with disconnecting. Cut out TV from your life entirely, especially TV news and Reality TV shows. You should be able to get all your information and entertainment from the web, or from real reality (or from the occasional movie). Avoid chain stores where possible, especially for food. Supporting smaller (especially sustainable) business keeps entrepreneurial and independent business spirit alive. Getting and staying out of debt (especially debt without equity, or rapidly depreciating equity such as car loans) is crucial, as debt is a primary mechanism the Matrix uses to ensure your obedience. Also, if you are a salaried employee, working a 40 hour (or perhaps even 35) hour work week can be a big start to declaring your freedom from the machine and the corporate American peer-pressure to be a diligent slave. It also frees up huge amounts of mental energy which is then available for resistance.

From here, a limited form of resistance whereby you leave the Matrix for short periods of time (long enough to conduct purchases, business transactions, and communications with the underground) is well within the reach of all computer literate individuals, and functioning as a consumer is sufficiently supportive of the Anonymous Economy for it to be sustainable. Moreover, the probability of discovery of this sort of activity can be reduced as much as you choose. Doing this effectively is the subject of this HOWTO.

As you progress, you will notice yourself developing one or more separate identities, or pseudonyms. It is best to build as much insulation between these nyms as possible. They shouldn't appear to know each other, shouldn't really talk about the same stuff or buy the same things, and above all should be diligently separated from your original physical identity. Maintain different wallets, bags, user accounts and possibly even computers. In short, develop one or more Tyler Durdens, except without all the insanity, self-destruction, and sociopathic behavior. Or with it, if it helps.

The adept and the entrepreneurial will find it an easy step from here to total freedom. The next stage is to go into business for yourself. It doesn't have to be an anonymous business, but those who manage such an achievement do enjoy the satisfaction that they are directly subverting the Matrix and helping to weaken its hold on everyone.



posted on Apr, 1 2015 @ 06:24 AM
link   
a reply to: droid56

Your content doesn't really match the title if you ask me..

Are you actually talking about religion?

That's what it sounds like when talking about choosing a path when we die, heaven and hell.


edit on 1/4/15 by Chadwickus because: (no reason given)




top topics
 
2

log in

join