Engage Life

Enter the Matrix

Are you familiar with the movie, The Matrix? If you read this blog and are over 10 years old you probably are. The movie (and its poorly written sequels) is about a world in which our perceived reality is actually a computer driven one. We are all “plugged in” and the Matrix creates a world for us to live and exist in. Everything that happens inside the Matrix has consequences but is not real. Actual reality is a barren scorched earth run by machines. 

I really enjoy this movie because I can see it happening. Maybe not to the dramatic effect portrayed in The Matrix movie but a system that slowly liberates us from the duties that adults have been responsible for for years. The Internet is very convenient but does it go to far? I don’t got to the post office, I send e-mail. I don’t go to the bank, I use online bill-pay. I don’t got to K-mart, I use Amazon. I don’t go out to eat, I order online from Domino’s. I telecommute to work. At what point would it be easier to just hook us to the computer and let those interactions happen with just a though?

The obvious objection has always been, what about friends, relationships, sex? Facebook and other social networks have done a very good job of connecting us to other people and gathering tons of data about us in the process. A seasoned user of Facebook probably has given then volumes of data just based on what they’ve clicked, liked, and willingly input into their servers. All designed to keep you there and entertained for as long as possible. Who do you know that spends 2, 4 or even more hours on Facebook every day? We all know someone. 

Facebook, Twitter, Path, LinkedIn, GetGlue, Google+, even Xbox Live and hundreds of other site vie for our time and will allegedly connect us with people of similar tastes and likes. You’ve made friends online, so have I. How many have you actually met? All these services that supposedly connect us are actually further isolating us. We are only connected via the Matr…er, I mean, the Internet but not in actual reality.

All that is left is the human desire for close physical and sexual relationships. They have an answer for this too. First there is the porn industry that pushes the boundaries of reality all the time. From one-on-one video chats to specific fetish videos, every perversion is covered. If you can think of it, their probably at least 4-6 porn sites for it. So if porn is not your thing and you want a “real” person just log into Chatroulette, Omegle or various other 1-on-1 video sites find a suitable partner and do whatever naughty things your web-cam can capture. 

Does this replace true physical sexuality? No it doesn’t but in the near future this might. You remember the sex scene in Demolition Man. No touching just VR helmet thingies that molest your biggest sexual organ, your brain. Babies can be made in a lab, just send in your sperm, you can arrange online for it to be picked up. 

Finally, you say, what about all the service you arrange for? Someone must go out and do them. I say, have you see Surrogates? It was a crappy Bruce Willis movie but with an interesting premise. We all have one or more android surrogates that we control with our minds while in a special control chamber in our homes. Here’s the trailer. They can all drive around in the Google self-driving car too. 

So there you have it folks. Your life is online and you have no need to leave the house. we only need a few more pieces to fall into place and we will be living in actual reality of Matrix like existence. I haven’t even scratched the surface of augmented reality gaming and cloud computing. Forget the zombie apocalypse, the Matrix is upon us.