Myths of the Matrix: Ten Most Blatant Lies of the Contemporary Society
Busting the Most Common Myths Prevailing in Society
A typical way of the Matrix is to create illusions which appear so convincing that the reality disappears. As a prison of the mind, such illusions become indisputable facts in society. Therefore, it is important to keep a real perspective of the issues and do a sanity check regularly. Here you can learn about ten of the most common prevailing lies in society.
Meritocracy
The fundamental assumption behind belief of Meritocracy is that the success of an individual does not depend on their circumstances and station in life at birth. Rather, it is the actions of the individual which determine the outcome of one’s life. Such an idea emerged in the industrial age when suddenly demand for labor exploded due to the growth and expansion of the industry. In ancient times, people were more rational and understood the inherent differences that existed between various people and groups. This does not necessarily mean that ancient people were more equal. Although, in some ways, they were egalitarian (e.g., hunter-gatherer/pastoral societies). However, the main difference lies in their understanding, acceptance, and tolerance of individual capabilities. Contemporary society, on the contrary, believes in self-determination, — a belief that the outcome of a person’s life is entirely dependent on their own actions. This led to the creation and enforcement of systems which made life a race whereby winners and losers had to be created. The generations of the winners (i.e., the rich and the powerful) inherited not merely wealth but a belief system which was passed down to them by their ancestors. The losers were made to believe that they were in that situation only due to their own fault. This insistence on personal responsibility and complete disregard for individual differences or circumstances made way for acceptance and enforcement of the concept of Meritocracy. In this way, Meritocracy only justified and legitimized the autocracy and privilege of a certain class. This is not to deny that individual actions and personal responsibility play a role in the success of an individual, rather it is to emphasize that such role is secondary and not the main determinant of individual’s station in life.
Despite the presence of systems which enforce Meritocracy, it is something which is just a surface level illusion. All such systems are influenced and controlled by typical social evils (e.g., Nepotism, Favoritism, Power, Prejudice, etc.). For example, the hiring process for any job is never a practice of Meritocracy but rather a cloak to hide the ugliness of human nature. Therefore, Meritocracy is just a myth which all people have chosen to believe in regardless of it being a blatant lie.
Social/Economic Mobility
“ The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”, — Karl Marx
Another quite common lie which circulates in society is social and economic mobility. The belief that one can change their social and economic standing in life irrespective of what they inherited at the time of birth. Such belief, once again, has the same origin of personal responsibility and self-determination. By ignoring the class differences and social circumstances, — which either amplify or hinder one’s abilities, it is assumed that the fate of one’s success lies entirely in one’s own hands.
However, the reality is that the social and economic standing of somebody is mostly dependent on the status at birth; you are either born into a rich family or happen to have relationships with the rich and affluent. This is the only real social/economic ”mobility” which exists, even in the most developed and welfare-oriented countries. Any other way is a wild goose chase. Wealth and power only circulate within a particular class. The same families who have ruled and controlled businesses are still doing so through their descendants.
The offspring of such a privileged class are much more insidious and treacherous in their demeanor. The older generation of the rich was clearly identified as the rich and they preferred to live away from the poor, in separate parts of the country. The descendants of the rich are camouflaged these days. They live among the poor, befriend the poor, and show off their wealth while being in proximity to the poor. They use social media to achieve this purpose. They appropriate the culture of the poor people and use the appearance of poverty as a status symbol (e.g., culture of minimalism). This causes more severe psychological torture than the one caused by the private and invisible communities which the older generation of the rich preferred. The presence and visibility of the rich to the poor societies make the poor people have an erroneous belief of self-determination; the belief that if somebody in their social network could do it then they could do it as well, and if they cannot then it must be their own fault.
Freedom of Choice
“Choice is an illusion, created between those who have power and those without”, —Merovingian, Matrix Movie
“Choice is illusion, same as happiness and freedom”, — Carolyn Crane
No matter how many times science and philosophy refutes the idea of freewill, it persists in the minds of people. From religious demagogues to manipulative politicians exploit this idea and shift the burden of responsibility solely on the individual. This belief then leads to the idea of freedom of choice. There is this belief that life consists of a series of choices and if only a person made the right set of choices in life would it be enough for success. Sure, life has choices and there is an outcome for every choice, however, availability of choices is not the same to all people. Moreover, choices do not exist in isolation, they exist within an environment of constraints (i.e., both biological and social). While a set of choices can be liberating for the privileged, the same set of choices can be of no use for a person bound by socioeconomic chains. A rich and privileged person can appear to be successful because of right choices (e.g., taking job in big city, forming a strong social network, establishing a business, etc.) however, nobody ever pays attention to the underlying hidden socioeconomic advantages that enabled such a person to make those choices. A poor disadvantaged person will have to first combat prejudice, oppression, and economic pressures to even be able to make a similar choice. So, even if the same set of choices was presented to two different people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, not all choices were available to both. One doesn’t choose one’s parents, place of birth, socioeconomic conditions, or their genetics. There isn’t a single cell in one’s body that is the outcome of one’s deliberate choice. Therefore, freedom of choice remains a myth.
Positivity is Key to Success
A blend of pseudo psychology and digital marketing has given rise to toxic positivity. While a person in a modern society was expected to have difficulties in life and the corresponding emotional responses, a postmodern person is not allowed to feel negative emotions regardless of the severity of the circumstances. A fake cheerful attitude must be maintained at all costs and all times. Not only is the person in such a postmodern society expected to suffer but one is also not allowed to express the natural emotional response. A person expressing sadness as a natural response to harsh conditions of living is considered weak. Depression arising as a consequence of oppressive practices is considered a sickness of the individual and efforts are made to eradicate such people from society instead of the cause of depression. The message is that one is allowed to suffer but one is not allowed to show one’s suffering. Moreover, toxic positivity is a form of gaslighting used by Narcissists to control the perception of the victim. This is why it is used by most public figures and social media personalities who are covert Narcissists.
Law of Attraction
Another pseudo-scientific myth circling in society is the idea of law of attraction, — the belief that whatever happens in one’s life is the result of one’s thought patterns and actions. This twisted idea is loosely based on the Indian concept of Karma. The original concept of Karma just meant to refer to the cause-and-effect and interconnectedness of everything in nature. There was nothing supernatural or spooky about it. Incorrect understanding of the original concept and twisting it for furthering one’s malevolent intentions has resulted in it being used as a tool for systematic oppression. For example, when somebody achieves success in life due to pure luck, it is attributed to one’s better thought patterns and actions which supposedly attracted good fortune. Similarly, when somebody is found suffering due to systematic oppression and abuse, it is also labeled as an emblem of law of attraction. Such a philosophy is used by self-help gurus and social media influencers for trapping the people into their scam and shifting the responsibility to the individual for the collective problems.
Brainstorming is Better than Solitary Contemplation
“Most great ideas spring from solitude”, — Susan Cain
A common view is that when many people interact and discuss ideas it often leads to better ideas. It is true that in some cases collaboration results in refinement of ideas, provided that such a collaboration was among highly professional people and the number of people was small. However, open brainstorming the ideas with masses or groups of people, in the hope of getting better ideas is just a myth. The best ideas are often the result of solitary contemplations. In a highly digital world, where the knowledge is not directly obtained from interpersonal communication but rather absorbed by indirect content from other people, brainstorming is just a fruitless task. If the purpose of brainstorming is to share knowledge, then it is the worst way to share one’s thoughts. As we all know, the most credible sources of knowledge are the ones which are written and passed down the generations in contrast to the oral traditions of passing knowledge which became obsolete. So, it is about time that we started giving more importance to the ideas from individuals in contrast to brainstorming and group thinking.
Hustle Culture Makes you Rich
There is this strange belief in the young population that hustling makes one successful in life. Such a belief has been ingrained in them by self-help gurus and snake-oil salesmen. While earlier generations were able to spot such con-artists quickly, the younger generation (especially the Gen Z), — who lack role models in their life, get into the traps of these tricksters. The truth is that the ”circular” economy is there precisely to not let you become self-sufficient and independent. It was invented to reduce the business costs by employing less people and taking away people’s safety nets.
The exploitation of labor in this way is nothing new. It is what Karl Marx called, “Reserved army of labor”. It is the underemployed/unemployed people in society who are kept in such a state for the rainy days of capitalism. Such unemployed people are disguised under the “self-employment” label. In the times when the demand of labor increases, these people are brought into the workforce, thereby reducing the cost of labor.
“Big industry constantly requires a reserve army of unemployed workers for times of overproduction. The main purpose of the bourgeois in relation to the worker is, of course, to have the commodity labor as cheaply as possible, which is only possible when the supply of this commodity is as large as possible in relation to the demand for it, i.e., when the overpopulation is the greatest. Overpopulation is therefore in the interest of the bourgeoisie, and it gives the workers good advice which it knows to be impossible to carry out.” — Karl Marx
Fight for Diversity is the Fight for Equality
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”, — Socrates.
In contrast to the popular opinion, economic determinism forms the basis of all the social relations. All other demographic differences (e.g., ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation etc.) are secondary. If you are economically powerful, demographic differences do not matter. Affluent members of the typical vulnerable groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, women, gender diverse people, etc.), enjoy an easy life, whereby they can get all the privileges usually associated with a dominant class (e.g., cis-white men). From having easy access to jobs to social successes, such people thrive in all aspects of life regardless of their demography. Therefore, the fight for diversity is in fact not the fight for equality but for power. Then the question is power for whom and to achieve what?!
If we look closely, social justice is not the voice of the poor and the disadvantaged. It is only a tool for the acquisition of power for/by the privileged. All social justice and diversity activists are only there to cash-in on the sufferings of the disadvantaged people. Their relationship with misery is symbiotic; the more there is inequality and suffering, the more they can run their chop shop. The culture of social justice feeds on inequality and injustice. This is why diversity practices never improve the conditions of the truly disadvantaged people but rather feed the sadistic and parasitic individuals who thrive on other’s misery. Therefore, the real meaning of ”diversity” is the collection of the affluent and the privileged from various social groups.
Success is Equal to Value Creation
Another strongly held belief by society is that success is bestowed upon those who can create value. This idea was instilled into people’s mind by oligarchy and wealthy capitalists who wanted to justify their privilege and give disadvantaged people a reason for their deprived state in life. Although it was a lie in the industrial age, however, it was somewhat believable because people who were establishing businesses were solving problems in people’s everyday lives and were creating products which directly/indirectly were useful in the survival. However, the value as we know now is a completely different concept.
As the world has become completely digital, the value has become synonymous with entertainment. The newer generation is not getting rich by solving people’s problems or by providing products for everyday life, they are getting rich by selling a dream and an illusion of happiness. Digital content that people create is there to show an imaginary perfect life which everybody aspires to achieve. The most valuable content is not the one which contributes something to the lives of the people but rather the one that is the most amusing. The successful people are not the highly knowledgeable, the wisest or the experts from their domains but rather cheap salesmen. People who were termed disparagingly in the older times (e.g., snake-oil salesmen, prostitutes, etc.) now are admired as influencers and role models. The most crucial members of society (e.g., product/service providers which help one survive) are considered the least valuable in society. Similarly, the knowledge bearers of civilization (e.g., teachers, educators, philosophers, mentors, and academics, etc.) have the least respect and social/economic standing in society. In such a value system, the concept of value itself is ashamed.
Pursuit of Happiness Alleviates Suffering
The idea of “Happiness” in contemporary society is borrowed from the philosophy of utilitarianism; the belief that the goal of life is to maximize pleasure for the majority. Such a goal often comes at the cost of suffering for the minority. This is not to say that the majority who pursue such a goal achieves such happiness, but rather to emphasize that the rights and sufferings of the disadvantaged are ignored and accepted as necessary for the attainment of pleasure for the majority. The outcome of such a belief is that the privileged ones become nihilistic due to an easy access to all the pleasures of the life and the ones lacking such privilege become envious and disgruntled. Overall, the pursuit of happiness brings no more happiness into the world but rather contributes to the sufferings.
Conclusions
In the age of illusions, disinformation, and deception, it is crucial to keep a sanity check every now and then. This article presents some of the most common illusions of our times. Keeping a clear mind about these myths can make a person not get bogged down by the deceptive forces in society. When lies and hypocrisy are all what constructs the reality, awareness of falsehood and illusion becomes the mark of sanity.