What does it mean to be red-pilled or blue-pilled?

The phrase “red pill” and its opposite, “blue pill,” represent choosing painful truth or blissful ignorance.

The 1999 movie “The Matrix” is credited with popularising the words in science fiction culture.

Neo, the movie’s main character, is given the option of taking either a red pill or a blue pill.

The red pill allows Neo to “escape” from the Matrix, a fictional computer-generated reality.

On the other hand, the blue pill allows Neo to stay in the world without realising anything is amiss.

According to surveys, a lot of people favour the security of the blue pill universe.

The Background

“This is your last chance.

After this, there is no turning back.

You take the blue pill: the story ends, and you wake up in bed and believe whatever you want.

Or you take the red pill.

You stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” – The Matrix’s Morpheus

A Zion crew member in the Matrix offers a potential human the red or blue pill.

The team can then use a trace programme to find the person’s body inside the Matrix power plant.

Instructions are transmitted to the pod to wake the subject when the person is located.

Red pills are essentially those who have discovered the Matrix’s deception.

They either notice “glitches” in the Matrix or question their life within it.

Morpheus claims that leaving the Matrix can frighten those who have stayed there too long.

Crews often only give the red pill to people no older than teenagers.

Following that, the likelihood of denial and psychotic episodes could rise as a result of the reality of separation.

Morpheus broke this rule to save Neo, who was around 30 years old.

Read: Is Education Truly Power?

The ‘Garden of Eden’ Analogy

The blue pill versus red pill dilemma recalls the ancient choice between knowledge and eternal life in Eden.

The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge stood at the center of Eden.

The knowledge from the tree of knowledge was valuable for learning about everything, including good and evil.

Genesis 3:5: “Because God is aware that when you consume it, your eyes will be opened and you will possess divine knowledge.”

The belief in eternal life made the Tree of Life significant.

The people who ate from the fruit of the tree of knowledge were driven out of Eden and prevented from returning to the fruit of the belief in everlasting life (“a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:21).

This allusion to the Genesis narrative contrasts the knowledge and belief options presented.

This passage does not intend to imply that knowledge is immoral, bad, or sinful.

It compares faith-driven life expecting favorable outcomes to knowledge-based life.

Some criticise both options as inadequate or providing a poorer-quality life.

Some might even say that a particular decision is immoral.

This criticism avoids it because it is unrelated.

Here, the options are framed as pertinent to what philosophy is all about.

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The Red Pill or Blue Pill

The red pill represents the path of philosophy, justification, discernment, science, and experimentation.

The blue pill is straightforward, unquestioning belief and emotional judgement. Which one do you choose?

It is possible that not all of the beliefs we regard to be true are in fact true.

In this case, reviewing and challenging our beliefs may be worthwhile to ascertain which ones are more strongly supported by evidence and reasoning than others.

An approach for doing this analysis of some of the most fundamental questions and problems that people have ever encountered is philosophy.

If you believe that taking the blue pill will provide you comfort, security, stability, and order, you will pay a high price for adopting that way of life.

A society where this kind of unquestioning thinking is the norm will be in danger.

Those who utilise it run a higher risk of contracting infections and diseases because they won’t be using the most recent medical research on disease origins and transmission.

It allows people to act on erroneous assertions and hold stereotypical, discriminatory beliefs about others.

In addition to other forms of illogical discrimination and injustice based on uncritical beliefs, it fosters racist and sexist ideologies and practises.

It makes followers of the blue pill road vulnerable to ponzi scheme operators and other swindlers who prey on unreasonable hope.

The blue pill road appeals to people who prioritise themselves over others and the short term over the long term.

But it too frequently turns out to be the complete reverse of what was desired upon taking it.

Read: What is the difference between being religious and spiritual?

Final Thoughts

We are asked whether seeking reality, truth, and knowledge is worthwhile.

The blue pill will leave us just as we are, with a life of unquestioning habits, untested beliefs, and rote memorization of what we have been taught to be true.

The comfort of the numerous things we anticipate receiving if we participate in daily life and pay little attention to it is what the blue pill leaves us with.

If we think that we don’t need the truth to survive, we pick this medication.

The blue pill allows us to maintain our sense of ourselves and loyalty to our loved ones.

Meanwhile, the red pill refers to realising the truth about reality, especially one that is challenging to accept or reveals delusion.

A life filled with bitter knowledge, hopeless freedom, and the unforgiving realities of life.

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