Red Pill, Blue Pill

 

Awake versus Woke, Red Pill versus Blue Pill

(see disclaimer below)

Let’s go down the Rabbit hole, shall we? Are you Awake, or Woke? Did you take the Red pill or the Blue pill?

These are questions we ask ourselves these days, but what do they mean? In my opinion, these catchwords are merely used to align us to one side or the other. Another means to divide into ‘Us vs. Them’ categories that, at any other time, would sound silly.

I remember watching the movie The Matrix, a dystopian version of the world after machines reduce mankind to batteries used to power a computer grid which humans find themselves living within. A strange twist on a theme, but quite entertaining. When the protagonist, Neo, is grabbed (kidnapped) from this virtual world, he is asked to choose a pill, the red or the blue. He chooses the red pill and swallows. Then wishes to God he hadn’t.

These days high tech is being blamed for manipulating our views on issues through the use of Algorithms. That is to say, how I view world issues versus how you view world issues depends on questions and searches we ask our electronic devices (e.g., desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone) daily. For instance, I might get a different set of results than you, based on what questions or searches of interest I’ve asked or searched before. In other words, I can ask google the same question as someone else sitting next to me, but we will receive different results, answers, or perspectives from each other, simply based on the fact that we have different interests. In fact, I might receive information that the other person sorely needs to read, which is the polar opposite of what he has received, and vice versa. 

How does that happen? More importantly, why?    

I recently watched a documentary called The Social Dilemma on Netflix, which outlines the concept of mind control, indoctrination (accidentally or not) through technology and media by using algorithms. Data storage helps the algorithm determine what answers or search results to give, based on an individual's stored data. Data manipulations? Who's to say, but the responsibility is enormous, and these companies should be held to account for these sneaky manipulations for the sake of advertising and money-making opportunities. The documentary explains how our electronic devices have become an addiction. Like a drug, we can't put them down. We keep going back for more information, if nothing else, to validate our beliefs, which the results on these devices give through their various applications. Admittedly there is a lot to unpack in that last statement, but suffice to say that these algorithms use our psyche to persuade us to think a certain way and, in doing so, has upended our social order. Or did we do it to ourselves? 

That's a guaranteed circle jerk question if ever there was one. 

I shouldn't lay all that responsibility at the feet of technology; how rude of me. This very frightening result, of course, was never the intent. The genesis of this technology was an effort to help us and assist in navigating the world around us. However, I will leave you to watch this program for more content. But, it got me thinking of The Matrix and the pills of reality that our unique algorithms have created.

It’s Red pill, Blue pill. Or to put it plainly, it’s your interest versus my interest, which can skew our views, especially if we are not careful. Taking the red pill has become a metaphor for reality, truth, and dealing with current circumstances we find ourselves. Over the years, it’s become a cliché to say, ‘Dang, should have taken the blue pill.’

Many days, I imagine, we feel this way – for sure.

Of course, we want to feel secure in our intrinsic choices. We want to believe that we are living our best lives without questioning how extrinsically we’ve been led to the choices we have made. If taking the red pill forces us to view the reality of our existence, peeling away the veil of deception, if you will, to uncover the truth, then it begs the question of wanting to see how the sausage is made.

Ah, ergo, the issue of being Woke. The term has taken on the trappings of revolution and going against the grain of conformity. Some of us use the word 'woke' as a mantra for change. To tear down the system, which has given so much in civil liberties and the right to pursue happiness. In taking the red pill, the Woke sees injustice and wants an even-handedness in tackling causes they feel necessary to support. But how to do this without a call to anarchy, that’s the conundrum. A civilized society thrives on conformity while tolerating non-conformity to a point. Civil disobedience is allowed under our constitution, but this doesn’t seem to be enough for the Woke. To undo order means to cause disorder and chaos, stripping those who are on the blue pill to see injustice in an unjust world – even if there is no injustice on the whole.  

Which gives rise to the Awake. Those who know the dangers of swallowing too much BS. Those who have taken the red pill but appreciate the benefits of the blue pill. Those who understand the lens of the blue pill but use caution when viewing life through the effects of the red pill. Those who see both sides and understand individualism, respecting the act of not impinging on others their passionate views. They take the path less traveled to seek their own way by researching and digging deeper for answers, not the way of the masses who want to keep them Woke. To live and let live while keeping a watchful eye on injustices and raising their voices effectively, not destructively. The Awake know the red pill of today doesn't tell the whole truth but lies by displaying a horrific view of life. They also understand that the blue pill is only a panacea that can’t be fully trusted, but it’s the best we have to swallow so far. About like the democratic government, we currently have…. 

Well, that was fun—time to climb out of the rabbit hole.

It’s easy to be led by an ideology, but maturity brings levity, or at least it should. It’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole of wanting Utopia where none exists, except the one we find ourselves in already. Algorithms are a necessary evil of the technological world in which we live, media notwithstanding. We need to understand its intent and motives to better understand ourselves and not get drawn into the catchwords or phrases that divide us. We do that well enough already.

I can’t help but wonder if there was another pill of choice. Maybe a translucent one that provided transparency, so we could really know how the sausage is made. 

On second thought...some things are better left unknown.

Photo Courtesy of Morning Brew

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Disclaimer: The opinion in this blog post is in no way an endorsement for the use of drugs of any kind. 

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