ethical question
is it immoral to live in a world of illusion
morality vs would you want to - would you even consider the morality
we don't always do/consider (on the basis of) what is right
might just be an overriding desire for truth
let's say do what is right
if you live the life of oskar schindler in the experience machine, have you lived a good life
being a good person is a measure of you, not your real effect on the world
the other way round - consequentialist
so, why choose the truth?
yousef: initial right answer = want the world of truth
but *why* would he definitely choose the truth?
perhaps he wouldn't, on contemplation
2 diff things: what he'd do, and what he'd be morally obliged
could be a situation, in which it would be morally right to live in the world of illusion - depends on the nature of the truth you're looking to discover
on a utilitarian basis, it might undermine religion and make a lot of people v unhappy
what's wrong with not awakening to the truth when given the chance?
say: red pill = revealing to a lot of people, then utilitarian right to withold the truth
depends on what the truth *is* in this case
opening your eyes to the wider world that you knew nothing about - if you learnt about it, your life would be diff - no moral obligation
what if it's all part of the journey?
what if the good is self-development, can you develop as well in the bath as in the "real" world?
is reality nerve impulses - empirical vs rationalist views (if its indistinguishable to you, then the effects of it are the same...)
i.e. there are some truths you can't be just *shown*
how could a rationalist defend against this empiricism - if the light *looks* the same, *is* it the same?
it's like plato and the simile of the cave
plato republic - it's all about shadowpuppets and silhouettes, but it's a metaphor for fundamental metaphysical revelations rather than simply sensory illusions
prudence/safety vs unknown
splits philosophical thought into the 2 camps
less richness in the artificial world?
perhaps there's actually *more* scope for self-development in an artificial world with a perfect learning curve, that adapts itself to you as a person
so there could be an artificial world which is *better* (from the point of view fo self-development) than the real world
depends on what you mean by the truth
what the truth turns out to be has an effect on whether or not you should desire it ...
what exactly is the 'truth' that is being offered?
matrix - you haven't uncovered any more about the true truth than you knew before
you haven't got to a higher plane
no metaphysics whatsoever revealed by the film
how does that affect our decision of rightness?
why *would* you say no?
because you're afraid - you don't want to lose what you have - you are content now, why jeopardise it for a valueless truth
if the real world is going to be happier/sadder, how does that affect the rightness of your actions?
should you try and uncover what's happening in the matrix with the robots
is it worth fighting the matrix zion?
is that a truth that renders the illusion base and valueless and deserves to be revealed/destroyed?
if you get told what the truth exactly is, and get threatened with memory loss
then you have to fight for other people's right to choose for themselves, and not have an illusion forced on them
but if they're happy ... same question as for you, but for more people - but they haven't had a chance to choose
is it a choice if you forget that you made the choice? yes
fate? schrodinger's cat ...
if you perform a crime and then have amnesia, should you still be held responsible?
yes, because the 'real you' did it and is still around to be held responsible
the oracle 'what'll really bake your noodle is: if i hadn't said that, would you have broken it?'
the truth will make you free - gospels (if you hear my words and do them, you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free - anyone who sins is a slave to sin - slippery slope???)
implication: objective rightness, rather than judging actions based on intentions cos ignorance of consequences makes us innocent of them
you are able to make a more educated choice - but then again, if you do have a clear morality which tells you what to do, and you know the circumstances, then do you have a choice - yes, cos you can do bad
but that brings in the platonic
question: will a man ever willingly do bad? it�s all about priorities, and
which Good you believe to be the greatest/highest � by doing �bad�, you are
simply holding money/power/love etc. to be more important than the �Good�, i.e.
you�re still doing good
the more you go one way, the harder it is to reverse your path
if following your greed/lust is making yourself a slave to them, why is following the truth not becoming a slave to that (the more you strive for truth, the harder it becomes to accept a lack of truth) - the more you go on it, does it become harder or not
choice between unknown enlightenment and safe knowledge
when you choose either, you can just as easily ask 'why do either?'
deeper level of motivations: usu bottle down to pride, pleasure, avoidance of pain
what are you choosing between - if i took one, why didn't i take the other?
if i choose truth (why, i don't need truth, i'm happy and fulfilled in my life)
if i choose illusion (
��������������� depends on how much you've been told about the truth
��������������� in the matrix, all you've found out is that someone's been lying to you (e.g. if your girlfriend has been cheating on you - do you want to know)
��������������� it all looks, feels and tastes the same - it's just contingently superficially different)
the same world - just a different setup - like the truman show - have you formed any relationships?
they're actors, but they're human, and the real society is v similar - it's all recursively inwards (you could imagine truman watching the truman show about someone else)
khayyam - we are the shadows on the screen, and if you pull down the curtain to see the truth, "neither you will remain nor i" - there is a higher reality to all these things, but we are part of the lower reality - if you strip it away, we won't be there to see it / there won't be anything to see - if you take away the observer, then the observed loses whatever the observer saw in it
I would take the red pill because a change is as good as a rest