The Matrix is Real and There Are Many of Them
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
I remember skipping class with a friend in high school to go watch “The Matrix,” the 1999 science fiction film directed by the Wachowskis.
The movie revolves around a computer hacker named Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) who discovers that the reality he knows is a simulated world created by machines to subdue humanity. He is recruited by a group of rebels led by Morpheus (played by Laurence Fishburne) to break free from the Matrix, a digital illusion that everyone is plugged into, and join the fight against the machines. To succeed, he must be willing to break free from the serenity this delusion provides him.
The movie was acclaimed for its novel special effects. But there are broader lessons involved.
Collective Delusion
The Matrix is about unplugging from a collective delusion. Collective delusions are real and all around us. My guess is that it’s part of our evolved tribal instincts. Fearing being cast out from a tribe, we have an inclination to believe and absorb the opinions of those around us, no matter how wrong it might be.
It’s not difficult to see historical examples of collective delusion. Everyone does not need to be under the spell for it to still be a mass belief that is wrong.
As I said in Rule 5, no matter which side of the God debate you are on, it means that you think hundreds of millions or even billions of people are completely, dead wrong on a matter of potentially serious consequence.
There are notorious collective delusions throughout history, including the Salem Witch Trials, McCarthyism, Tulip Mania, and even Y2K. But collective delusions don’t have to be that sensational or well-known. These high-profile examples simply demonstrate our willingness to engage in mass delusion, and that there may be many other collective delusions permeating around us.
We could consider it a collective delusion the notion through most of history that women can’t succeed or don’t belong in the workforce. Or the delusion that gay marriage is wrong. Our history with health and nutrition is dotted with collective delusions, like the benefits of leaching or the misconception that replacing fat with processed sugars is an optimal diet strategy.
Once you start recognizing how many there are, and how misguided they can be, you can start to see how beneficial it could be to break free from them. I am no conspiracy theorist, but I have a healthy skepticism towards widely shared opinions.
And I am not here to preach what you should or should not believe. But in my life, I have found myself breaking free from numerous ideas that I now think of as collective delusions.
As I’ve written about before, I believe there is a widespread collective delusion that the voice in your head is “you.” Meditation teaches you that this is not so, but few people meditate and therefore few are on the outside of this delusion.
Or take alcohol as an example. I am not here to bash on the sauce, but for most of my life, a collective delusion has existed that alcohol was more acceptable and perhaps even beneficial compared to other recreational pursuits. This is despite the ubiquity of alcohol-related deaths, crime, and violence. Day by day this illusion seems to be increasingly shed, as more evidence about how harmful alcohol is continues to mount and as other natural drugs become more mainstream and accepted.
I have also broken free from a collective delusion about the value of media. As a former news junkie and someone who has spent his career working with reporters, I believe there is a collective delusion about the value news consumption provides. The less I consume, the happier I am. More concerning, much of the media that is consumed is wrong or inaccurate, and that’s even before you dive into the modern concept of “fake news.” I have always found Michael Chrichton’s insight on the “Gell-Mann Amnesia effect” fascinating and on point:
“Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well… You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the ‘wet streets cause rain’ stories. Paper's full of them. In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.
“That is the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. I'd point out it does not operate in other arenas of life. In ordinary life, if somebody consistently exaggerates or lies to you, you soon discount everything they say… But when it comes to the media, we believe against evidence that it is probably worth our time to read other parts of the paper. When, in fact, it almost certainly isn't. The only possible explanation for our behavior is amnesia.”
To me, it’s a collective delusion that reading and watching news is valuable and makes one an “informed citizen.” If the information being consumed is bad, the opposite would be true. You are more informed by abstaining.
I was also raised to believe that the U.S. was exceptional in almost every way, and that other countries and cultures were somehow lesser. It took much travel to notice how much happier people in other cultures often are. In my view, America is not better, nor worse. There are trade-offs and there are many desirable qualities that emanate from other cultures. But it seems to me that there is a collective delusion for many that being American is superior to being from another culture.
I also believe our culture promotes collective delusions about “dream jobs” and excessive consumerism that suggest that if you keep at it, one day you will arrive to be content and successful. That you will one day achieve what you need to in your career, or through purchasing enough, and will then be happy.
The COVID era brought to light numerous collective delusions, challenging preconceived notions and prompting a reevaluation of societal beliefs. The idea that our healthcare system is science-based and not driven by politics. Or that remote work isn’t feasible. It was in this same time period that I and many others broke from the collective delusions about the noble intents of our law enforcement.
Maybe you agree or disagree with what I consider a delusion, but perhaps this sparks ideas in your own mind about widespread misconceptions or erroneous beliefs you have noticed in the public sphere.
If you look at the history of these widespread falsehoods, they tend to emanate from an over-investment in the opinions of “experts” and authority figures, perhaps shining light on another collective delusion about the value of expertise.
What other collective delusions might be underway right now?
What if the idea that work meetings are necessary or beneficial is a collective delusion? From Seth Godin’s Song of Significance:
“Zapier is a successful web software company with a distributed team. As an experiment, they suspended all regular meetings for a week. Instead of real-time 1: 1 weekly check-ins or group meetings, they shifted to asynchronous reports, updates, and questions, giving each employee the time and freedom to get actual work done. And actual work got done. More than 80 percent of the team’s established written goals for that week were achieved. Here’s a quick summary from one of their leaders: Instead of my weekly 1: 1, I consolidated questions for my manager and sent them to her in a direct message on Slack. Instead of a project check-in, all team members shared their updates in the relevant Asana task list. Instead of a one-off strategy call, stakeholders shared their thoughts (and comments) in a Coda doc. Instead of a project kickoff call, our project manager sent a Slack message that shared the project charter, timeline, and next steps. Beyond that, though, was the shift in culture. Instead of taking attendance (you need to be in front of your computer, at the appointed time, to be in a real-time meeting), they paid attention to contributions. Instead of rewarding a combination of obedience and sparkle, they amplified individuals who were able to pay attention to what needed to be done and then do it.”
I don’t know the answer there, but I don’t take the status quo and fact that everyone does it as a justification that our current system in right.
Conclusion
My point here is that major, societal-wide ideas may be wrong and are worth questioning.
You shouldn’t take comfort in knowing there are lots of people out there who agree with you or think and behave the same way. Large groups of people often believe utter nonsense, from overvaluing tulips to devoting much time and energy to hunting witches out of our communities.
Unplugging from the matrix of collective delusions liberates you to be able to pursue your own path and find your own truths.
Be skeptical of public opinion, rigorous in your pursuit of knowledge, open to new ideas, and careful with whom you share your truth.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”