Escaping the Matrix

[Geoff-Allen]

Greetings fellow earthlings

I hope you are enjoying your time here on the forum!

I was just browsing aimlessly and found this interesting page about the Matrix.

I enjoyed the films so I decided to click on it -

Think of the way most people live: they force themselves to wake up early in the morning, dress up, drive straight to some workplace, spend 8 hours or so doing work they hate, drive back home, surf the Internet or watch TV, and then go to bed and sleep, only to repeat the same routine the next day for almost their entire lives.

In our culture, we consider this kind of living as normal and even healthy, but if you stop and think about it, it’s not healthy at all. Life can be immensely beautiful, yet instead of making the most out of it, we choose to waste it, and that’s because we’ve been programmed to believe that this is the only way to live.

Habits, tradition and dogmatic beliefs have turned us into mindless automatons who follow a predetermined path that was forced upon us by society. This programming, however, can be broken, if we realize that it’s in our hands to transform the way we’re living, and gather enough courage in our hearts to think and act differently. Then, life can be turned into a celebration filled with joy, creativity, love and play.

For the full article simply click on this link -

Escaping the Matrix: 8 Ways to Deprogram Yourself

Enjoy the rest of your browsing!

Wishing you all the best.

 

[AlexanderG]

So, I'm a liberal atheist and I'm sensitive to the stereotypes that theists heap on us, but this actually made me chuckle. I'd summarize these 8 steps as "become a communist vegan."

Really? You really think that with the prolific variety of different people around the world, with different goals, predilections, cultural affiliations and interests, that if they just abandoned their religious communities, questioned capitalism and ate organic locally sourced produce that they'd all be happier for sure? Come on, man. If this is what makes YOU happy then go for it. Assuming that the things that give your in-group a fulfilling life are what would secretly work for everyone else is what religions do best. I appreciate the spirit of your intent, but I just think it's a bit narrow-minded.

If you want to generalize about what gives humans a happy and fulfilled life, I'd look at the 80 year longitudinal study on this topic. It basically found that having at least a few close, healthy, trusting relationships with other people is the primary determinant of longevity, health, and self-reported happiness over a lifetime. You can have those things no matter what diet, religion, or economic system you subscribe to.

 

[Sirona]

"Think of the way most people live: they force themselves to wake up early in the morning, dress up, drive straight to some workplace, spend 8 hours or so doing work they hate, drive back home, surf the Internet or watch TV, and then go to bed and sleep, only to repeat the same routine the next day for almost their entire lives."

The founder of the Hare Krishnas comes up with exactly the same argument, derogatorily calling people who live that way fruitive workers or karmis. But the joke is once you join his organization, his followers will make you work twice as hard for the "spiritual goal".

I think the problem is the Protestant work ethics that influences many Westerners although they even may not be Christians individually.