We are living in a morally fragile world. An experiment was conducted in 1960 where participants were asked by a doctor to raise the level of a device that would electrically shock someone in the next room. The participants were unaware that the person being “electrically charged” was an actor. Every time they would raise the voltage, the actor would scream in more and more pain. He would even come to the point where he pretended to die if the voltage was raised at its max. The participants simply had to obey or not obey the doctor’s orders.  60% obeyed knowing they were killing someone and 40% disobeyed. In 2011, the same experiment was performed and an overwhelmingly 75% obeyed.

 

This shows that people are less moral today. The reason they claim is due to television, computers, video games, iPads and cell phones. You see, people are connected to their device and not to other people. They are living in their own world full of fantasy and are not engaging with one another. “People are strange,” according to Jim Morrison. It’s true, it’s difficult to meet and talk to strangers and technology makes it easy for us to put in our headphones, listen to music and ignore the rest of the world. But when you don’t interact with people you lose a sense of camaraderie and this experiment proves it.

 

The Matrix was all about unplugging from computers so they can see the world for what it is. Inside the Matrix, people are cold and apathetic. Even when the main characters reenter the Matrix, they appear as these stoic programmed figures. They are the images they want to project to their enemies. In the real world, they are human. Loving and caring even in a world that is dark outside. They’re goal is to unplug the others so they can live in a world without the Matrix. Morpheus says some are not ready, the same is true for our world.

 

Atheists are part of this mission of unplugging people and helping them realize that religion is useless, but they are still not seeing the whole picture.  We are conscious human beings; there would be no universe if consciousness did not exist. When you look at the sky, the ocean, the rainbow, the stars, the moon, and all the creatures, you realize it is for us to enjoy.

There are two types of imagination that affect morality. One type is the childish way that has value for children but not for adults. Grown men and women envision God as a person who watches over them like Santa Claus. Then there’s the other one based on knowledge and common sense creating innovation and progress. Space exploration is the result of this kind of imagination. To be moral you have to know what is real. You can’t believe that Prince Charming will save you from whatever bad thing is going on in your life. You’re living in a fantasy world, the Matrix.

The moral experiment mentioned above reflects our society. It’s like a game; people just let others die and it’s no problem. The same thing is happening around the world where people are dying and no one cares to stop it. There are a billion slaves still, animals are tortured every day, the environment is polluted and the planet is overheating. This is not an experiment, this is real life! Your awareness surrounding life will open you to love but love does not exist without moral justice. You don’t have to join a religion or obey others rules to understand moral justice. Simply think for yourself and understand the right way to become an outstanding human being.