Spoiler Alert: The Matrix, revered for stunning visual effects - introducing audiences to the film technique known as "bullet time" - entertained us with the premise that humanity actually exists in a sleeping state, being farmed as an energy source for an Artificial Intelligence. To keep us unaware of our "actual" situation, humans are plugged-into a system that allows them to perceive that they are living the lives we are all accustomed to. As the majority of humans unwittingly go about their hallucinatory lives, an underground stronghold is inhabited by an awake society, always in peril of being discovered.
Full of religious and mystical undertones, The Matrix explicitly portrays the timeless idea that we are sleep-walking through our lives. The prominent character - Neo, played by Keanu Reeves - suspects that something is not right with reality. This is his pre-lucid stage. Aided by avatars from the "real world" who download into The Matrix to perform missions, Neo escapes the illusionary prison with the help of some steam-punkish technologies and a Red Pill. Referencing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Neo accepts the offer to see "how deep the rabbit hole goes." The Red Pill is a symbol and a digital code-perceived-as-matter, but it is not unlike the perfect Nootropic stack that life-hackers seek for mental supremacy or easy lucid dream induction. Once awake and freed, Neo undergoes training to maneuver better when re-entering The Matrix; there are sentient programs who don't want us aware that we are in a program. Again, there are glaring parallels with lucid dreaming here: To become proficient at lucid dreaming there are various techniques that we can practice to improve the ease with which our dream body is stable and cogent, in order to get the most of lucidity; the dream-generating-system, as I call it, is not interested in you being aware that you are dreaming. Actually, the dream-system wants you to rehearse chase scenarios, just like how Neo is constantly being chased by or fighting with Matrix Agents. Neo gets so good at maneuvering while in The Matrix that Agents become no match for him and he can even fly. And yes, flying is everyone's go-to activity in lucid dreams. All in all, not a bad fick when looking for some lucid dream inspiration. |
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