More perspectives on living in a matrix

There have been a number of articles on steemit, in the last couple of months, speculation on the possibility that we live in some sort of metaphorical matrix.

I find this a very interesting metaphor… since I consider myself an immortal, spiritual, being experiencing a mortal, physical existence.

The concept of a matrix, where we experience an alternate reality to who and what were really are, is therefore useful for conceptualizing just such a situation.

Something I watched this week gave me further insight into this type of conceptual metaphor…

Its General Conference time again for the Mormons. This happens every 6 months, usually in April and October. Last Saturday during the afternoon session D. Tod Cristofferson gave a talk on the atonement and in that talk he related a portion of the story of Hellen Keller.

It was while pondering these thoughts on Hellen Keller and how she must have felt that my thoughts turned to the Matrix metaphor.

Hellen Keller went deaf and blind at a very early age, however before she lost these senses she would have had time to develop some of her brains capacity for communication using sight and sound. What I found interesting is the level of frustration she experienced being unable to communicate after the capacity and desire to communicate had already been developed as an infant.

We know that language development (both speech and body) begins very early in an infant and this capacity begins to be wired into our brains right from the start, hearing is developed even as a fetus.

So Helen Keller’s “matrix” only allowed her to experience 3 senses… smell, touch and taste as opposed to the normal 5 which she had experienced as a fetus and infant. Her brain had been wired to use the other two but that was no longer physically possible.

One can only imagine the challenges, the leap of insight that was required to figure out that communication could take place with gestures that could not be seen, sounds that could be made but not heard, and symbols that could only be felt.

I pondered how different her matrix was to the one we experience, and yet potentially how similar they are.

Her frustration and final discovery and realization, that there was a realm that existed that was hidden from her current physical existence but that could be explored, learned and mastered, with help, and that eventually became a source of great joy to her.

She found expression in something that was quite outside her physical self as I suppose all writers do.

In fact due to computers we as a species have created a whole new dimension, fondly referred to as cyberspace. Cyberspace has no physical existence but for the zero’s and ones stored on hard drives, resident in memory and traveling on networks and signals all around the world.

And yet daily we plumb the lengths, breadths and depths of this virtual world. This virtual Matrix.

I wonder how different this self-created virtual-physical matrix is from the physical-spiritual one we potential now experience.

For me it has been somewhat frustrating initially but well worth it to make those leaps of insight and learn and practice the skills necessary to discover, explore and expand both virtual and spiritual horizons.

I embrace and look forward to the day when we will emerge unhandicapped by this physical body and regain the full use of all our spiritual senses and capacities.

However I still joy in the experience that is ours to hone these capacities in a matrix the refines these capabilities in ways that would not otherwise be possible.

I have attached the talk I refer to for reference purposes. Its 15 mins long the first half is mainly foundational covering doctrines of the atonement and the latter half covers aspects of the Hellen Keller story and other insights.