The Lead Masks Mystery: part 1.
Alice and the matrix
ALICE was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do . . .when suddenly a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.
There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural)
Humankind seems in general to be in a trance state.
I often think back to years past when I too was living in this state, you are aware of whats around you and there are many aspects of life that fill your thoughts and actions but you are so insulated in your own world that a much broader reality is not accessible. The media is very much a part of encouraging this in that we as humans are fed daily information that re-inforces this mindset.
“Welcome to The desert of the Real World"
This statement made by Morpheus in the Matrix was originally coined by French Philosopher Jean Baudrillard which is clearly referenced in the movie “the matrix”. . . in an early scene Neo stashes his illegal software inside a hollowed-out copy of a book by Jean Baudrillard entitled Simulacra and Simulation published in 1981. Watch it Here
Baudrillard argues that late-twentieth-century consumer culture is a world in which simulations or imitations of reality have become more real than reality itself, a condition he describes as the “hyper-real.”
My summary
- The Matrix film is a little misleading in that it takes this idea rather literally which is understandable in making a popular film Baudrillard's concept is a little bit tricky to grasp. We have to understand this concept is to do with us being rooted in a reality that is not merely simulated in our minds but in fact has become changed, over time, by perceptions that are bogged down by the limitations of language and the media.
- Your perception of Reality compared to mine is infinity variable, (one can see references to existentialism here . . . )But this simulacrum idea is that there is an "architect" that creates reality not at all as it is, but a mental construct that exists only in our consciousness. One has to question the motives of this "Prime mover" or "instigator" and what their, (no doubt,) nefarious goal is. Who controls information? or does it simply flow organically and fluidly in an unrestrained and natural manner?
- Well no it certainly doesn't . . .
- The ideas and views that are so confidently asserted by many are not at all based on their first hand experience but rather a mental construct that can be created or 'projected' into our minds by second hand means such as television and other forms or media.
- Our education system is a more subtle means of creating simulacrum, we as children are 'plain slates' upon which the system (architect) can create a view of reality that covers all aspects of our lives. We don't have to go beyond the walls of the classroom to develop a solid view of truth and reality that is very powerful and impregnable, even though we have never been able to check these ideas or question them.
- This is not to say we are brains in a vat in a literal sense but rather our collective consciousness is controlled by certain interpretations of reality that we have no possibility of proving by empirical means and we simply accept them as they are fed to us.
We will return to this but lets get back to our case at hand
This Story about the Lead masks case had a peculiar affect on me personally and it seemed to create a response in me that I feel was instrumental in my own "wake up Neo" experience
This happened around the early 1990's on a day much like any other day. . .
What happened to me was a casual picking up and reading of a very nondescript book whilst waiting in the reception room for a doctor or dentist, cant remember which.
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| http://www.ronankavanagh.ie/blog/waiting-room-for-improvement/ |
The book i picked up was “confrontations” by Jacques Vallee. I had no clue what it was about or who Jacques Vallee was and bored i began reading the prologue in which he describes his journey to Rio in order to investigate a bizarre story involving the mysterious death of two men found on a hillside who were found with lead masks on their bodies.
Well its a book on UfO's I guessed correctly. . .
Now I had naturally heard of the UfO phenomena and I had seen Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the third Kind” but beyond these I had heard little and was vaguely curious but not particularly interested or involved.
Upon reading this book my eye fell upon a particular section of the tale that read .
. . Also interrogated was Manuel Pereira da Cruz's widow. Her testimony indicated that the two victims were members of a "spiritualist" group, an occult society. It was rumoured that the group attempted to communicate with other planets.
. . . A lengthy discussion we had at the home of Professor Silvio Lago, a medical doctor who had been called by the court as an expert witness on parapsychology, threw some light on the spiritualist aspects. Ac cording to Professor Lago, the victims may have been engaged in a series of seances during which a paranormal entity was supposed to manifest itself.
I immediately made a connection between the UfO phenomena and the Occult.This was not simply because it was part of this particular tale, but rather as if a light went on in my head and I realised there was a connection to the phenomena as a whole. By “Occult” I mean people who attempt to connect with the spirit world using various methods from religious rituals trances and seances, astro travel and various psychedelic drugs.
This is a kind of awakening experience form me and triggered a host of strange experiences which seem very mundane in the telling but in fact could be a struggle to get out of a kind of a stupor into something broader and more encompassing, there begins a here a tale that linked me with so many interesting people and a shared journey that doesn't always run parallel but has a recognisable link. I have meddled on and off with this story for over 20 years. Very often against the good advice of my peers. . .
But that initial realisation has become more and more of a conviction, over time and I keep being drawn back into the study of this kind . . .in spite of myself.
Perception and Awareness
This is still introductory, there is so much more to be said in this regard but there is an angle that I want to narrow the focus onto.
Firstly if we understand the difference between perception and awareness.
I can illustrate this . . . when we look around ourselves at any given time we are aware of what is going on around us only at a certain level.
Think of your age, your sex and what are your chief concerns. If a man went to the Mall with his wife and teenage daughter and pre-teen son. If someone asked them to write down everything they noticed, keep in mind they are a family and live together, same race background etc. . .
. . . They would all have noticed vey different things and they would probably would have noticed totally different things. This demonstrates the effect of our own mindset that sees the world quite differently from person to person.
Another example: When my wife was pregnant for the first time, I was astonished to see just how many pregnant woman there were all around us, it was as if there was nothing other than pregnant women.
I even began to think that maybe this must be a very fertile time in history in our city.
Well obviously my awareness had become heightened by my own experience, even as I write this today I think to myself how many pregnant women am I aware of? Well. . .I do remember a few here and there. . . but not anything like when I think back to that time.
I am sure there are any number of examples in which many people can say they had a similar experience/s.
This is beautifully demonstrated by Derren Brown using subliminal suggestions to manipulate people's choices i his TV series "Trick of the Mind"
DERREN BROWN - Perception without awareness.
The Advert for his TV show says this "Derren Brown demonstrates his unique powers of psychological mentalism, hypnotism, misdirection and showmanship."
Perception and Awareness
It even says Toy Story- How to Control a nation. . . This program is just for fun but surely it could be the tip of a more sinister iceberg?
We are Fed - not just Information but also our responses
Isn’t this how we are made aware of so many aspects of our perception of reality? Just how many elements of reality are we only aware off through third party reports such as books Newspapers and television? We accept these things as truth without questioning them simply on the basis of what fits in with our society.
We would simply believe just about anything we are fed through the mass media. The passive acceptance of most people we encounter is perhaps due to our need for peace and happiness. It is far more important to us to go with the flow than to go against the grain and questioning widely accepted ideas.
Isn’t it true that people can and do believe quite absurd ideas when they are in the company of a large enough community that reinforce these ideas no matter what they may be? I am thinking of the mentality of Nazi Germany and how the masses simply went with the flow rather than object to the madness they were being fed.
Of course the media in 1940 was not as sophisticated as it is today, but nevertheless what was available was used to manipulate the thinking of the German people to brilliant effect.
What about today? I wonder how many people remember a movie called “Wag the Dog” in which the media is shameless manipulated in order to get the president re-elected. when robert de Niro's character is told there is no war in Albania he simply quips "of course there's a war I just saw it on TV" Wag The Dog
An enjoyable read as usual thanks Andrew
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