We may not be trapped in goo-filled pods and kept alive by machines for the soul purpose of being used as their battery/energy source, but I felt pretty close to that last night as I absent-mindedly added "friend" after "friend" to my Yuwie account.

The anaolgy to a "Matrix-style human battery" came to me out of the realization that I was not making friends out of the shear pleasure of meeting a new acquainatnce with similar interests whose company I enjoy (as I recall was the common human practice during my childhood years), but because the action promises revenue which I need. And the website which promises this revenue needs me (and all the other people involved in this website) to perform this activity to keep it going!

And I thought of all the other countless individuals across America who are stuck in similar situations:

• Dead-end jobs
• Lackluster marriages
• Mind-numbing monotony

Do they all draw the same conclusion as I about being stuck in the Matrix?

...so, I just wanted to share that thought.

In the Matrix, there is no escaping.

No growing.

Nothing, but the Matrix.

All day.

Every day.

Even the innate act of staying alive...your very life...is not even your own will, but it is by the will of the Matrix. The Matrix is only keeping you alive, because it needs you.

What a disturbing thought.

...but there have been times in my life (including last night) when I have been overcome with that feeling...

I just got finished watching What the #$&! do we know?!. It's actually a really good movie. I think it often gets grouped in with movies like The Secret that seem to be all about "Self Help" and "Having a Positive Mental Attitude", but it actually explores concepts that shape the thinking of many modern scientists. It touches on issues of Quantum Mechanics and Neuroscience, which, I believe are a bit too heavy for the "Self Help" section.

In this movie, they are always talking about "the observer" or "the ultimate observer". These terms were a bit vague for me, like "terrorist" seems to be to many Americans, but I still tried to follow along.

They explore the idea that our experiences are limited by our brains understanding of them. They painted a picture of a model of our brain in which we may be existing in a "holodeck" of the mind.

A holodeck, for those who don't know, is a concept from the hit show Star Trek. It is a room on the space ship where holographic images are generated. Holographic images are 3-dimensional projections. So, when you are in this room you may feel like you are experiencing the real world, but you are not. The room accomodates images to make you experience a bigger room, or a smaller room. You may feel like you've walked for miles, but you are still in the same enclosed space within the space ship.

Anyway, the movie says the mind works like this to some degree. So, that your experiences become subject to change depending on your neurochemistry. I like this particular quote from the film:

"The search command is directed at finding a certain emotional state"

That quote, to me, means that you may have a tendency to avoid certain situations based on a past experience simply because you do not want relive a certain emotional state. It's like people who have phobias (i.e. irrational fears) or racist people who have never even encountered a person of a certain race before, but instantly draw certain conclusions about them which either has one of two effect:

1. The person never engages this group of people and as a result never learns anything new about them which may have been a positive experience if they would have allowed it, or
2. The person already has in mind certain prejudices about the people so when they do interact with those people they do so through the tinted lense of their prejudices. So, if they believe a certain race is stupid or lazy, every action they view involving someone of that race will be interpreted as an act of stupidity or laziness...even when it's not.

It reminds me of another quote from the movie:

"You have too many memories clouding your vision."

This is true for all of us. We feel like we know what we know. In a world of limitless possibilities we are constantly limiting ourselves! And while sometimes, our fears and self-restrictions are within reason, there are occasions in which we stop when it is OK to go and life is a constant guessing game like that.

The movie really gives you a lot to think about.

Like, is our belief in our own personal power to change our world not as radical as our belief in a higher power, which some believe limits our belief in our own personal power and ability to change our world?

I propose that these are just two sides of the same coin. Two extremes of the same issue.

Is the master not as ridiculous as the slave?

An outside observer might say that the slave is a fool. Why doesn't he just get up and leave. Another may say the slave-driver is wicked! Why does he punish so harshly someone who is working for him? Still another wonders if they are not both foolish to allow themselves to be entangled with one another in this seemingly-endless dance of misery?

But these observers are not part of the situation, so they can never fully undertand, they can only observe and draw conclusions based on their limited knowledge of the event in question. And these conclusions may or may not cause them to take action. And we analyze our knowledge and our ability to know so that we can draw the right conclusions and take the most beneficial actions...

And it's all very fascinating.

"We are here to be creators."

That's another quote from the movie that I liked alot. Cause that's all we ever really do is create. So, simple and true is this statement. We create relationships. We create life. We create destinies. We create music. We create art. We create stories. We even create chaos and commotion, trouble and disaster.

OK, that's enough. I don't want to get carried away.

The end.