A deuteranomalous old man and a talking kaleidoscope in conversation.
A Quest for Reality
Characters:
Frollo, a deuteranomalous old man
Kalos, a talking kaleidoscope
Enter Frollo and Kalos.
KALOS
Oh Frollo, have some peace. You’ve been melancholy and restless for days now. What, pray tell, are you burdened with?
FROLLO
If only I knew! How naive was I to think it is only the unknown that frightens men when knowledge, the known proves to be the most petrifying and tortuous. It is knowledge that mocks me with its ever-changing nature and fools me into thinking I can understand it.
KALOS
What leads you to say this?
FROLLO
That I do not know, but I was recently presented with a scenario where I get to see and grasp a world completely foreign from ours. The True World whose existence dismisses the authenticity of ours.
KALOS
Like the cavemen in Plato’s allegory.
FROLLO
Very much so. Except, the real world is the cave. A world that is full of ugliness and despair. And it’s only me who is enlightened to perceive the existence of The True World, or The Matrix, while my fellow men are trapped in their illusion, deceived by superficial beauty. What should I do, Kalos? I want to free them, yet I have this gut feeling that perhaps I should not.
KALOS
Instinct doesn’t deceive.
FROLLO
Do I not have the moral responsibility to free them from the illusions, the fantasy?
KALOS
“Free them.” Are they trapped in the first place? I don’t think so. Men love illusions. My very existence justifies this. Who cares about whether what they are seeing is real or not? People want a dream. They vote for politicians not because they are honest but because they promise them a world of fantasy. They fall in love with people not through close examination and calculation, but because that special one captures their imagination and satisfies their illusions. I tell you, they will yearn for this world even more if you were to force them to stay on the other side. Also, do remember that men cannot discern the falsity of this world if you don’t show them. By revealing, you will horrify them. You said so yourself remember? “It’s the known that proves to be the most petrifying,” So why bother? I do in friendship counsel you to leave the subject behind.
FROLLO
I disagree. Men love illusions only if they are aware of the falsity. Even if not, there must be some who value truth above anything else and some who doubt the genuineness of this world. It is for this reason that the Matrix is more desirable. And although men might struggle to make peace with their new reality, they will love it eventually. Just like how Plato’s cavemen adjust to the light.
KALOS
Very well then. If truth is what gives the Matrix its value, then I humbly suggest you evaluate whether the Matrix is what you claim it to be: the ultimate and absolute truth. Given that our world is an illusion, how do we know the other is not? If so, we face the possibility of giving up some of our existing illusions to attain other illusions.
FROLLO
Yet, by the logic of Plato, the conjecture that the Matrix is just another illusion shouldn’t deter us from seeking it. One is closer to the truth after all.
KALOS
But how do you know that you are closer to the truth? Frollo, do not forget the glasses episode.
FROLLO
You scoundrel! Have I not told you to never mention it again? How you ridicule your friend.
KALOS
Be gentle. It’s only that I choose to once again be a true friend. True friends always stab you in the front.
FROLLO
Not when you shatter a man’s dignity and steal his happiness.
KALOS
True, but do not digress. Do you not see the merit of my supposition? Remember when Talking Cricket gave you a pair of glasses that put you in a frame of complete color-blindness, you went into a state of rapture. I begged you for days to see your naive optimism but you were blinded by the idea that an alternate world must be the real world.
FROLLO
I am not at fault. Talking Cricket told me what I am seeing is what everyone else is seeing, and I believed it. I was happy in my delusion. And how could I know any better? I am color-blind from the very beginning. Plus, Talking Cricket never lies.
KALOS
Yes. You went from deuteranomalous to complete blindness, and you believe religiously that you were closer to normality.
FROLLO
That’s enough. I get your point: To experience a world foreign to ours does not indicate we have attained the absolute authentic world.
KALOS
And to experience a world foreign to ours does not indicate that the world we live in is not the reality.
FROLLO
Are you suggesting that we live in reality? If so, you are in midsummer madness. Do you not recall telling me yesterday that you believe in heaven?
KALOS
I like winter more.
FROLLO
What does that have to do with what I said?
KALOS
And what does heaven have to do with my belief? Are they mutually exclusive?
FROLLO
You can only have one reality, and all others are illusions.
KALO
Quite the contrary. I suspect there are multitudes within reality and multitudes of realities. This idea may seem laughable and myopic to you, but why should reality be oneist? Can heaven be merely the transformation from our reality to another? Why should illusions be myriad but reality be exclusive?
FROLLO
Where did you get all of this nonsense?
KALOS
I deduced it from Aristotle’s idea of separate reality: an earthly reality of becoming, change, and transformation, and a celestial reality of being—eternal, perfect. I think you believe in numerous realities too.
FROLLO
Explain.
KALOS
When you say we live in a world of illusion, are you not confronted by the question: Where does our illusion come from?
FROLLO
Don’t we inherit it from other men?
KALOS
Most certainly, but where did the other men inherit it from?
FROLLO
I cannot answer.
KALOS
Then we shall seek for an answer. We can first eliminate the notion that illusion is an entity of itself, independent from the realm of reality. Since, by definition, an illusion is a deceptive appearance or impression. This suggests that illusion cannot simply stand by itself and that there must be a counterpart to it. A reality for it to imitate. Then let us examine the nature of reality. The very definition of reality is “(of a substance or thing) not imitation or artificial; genuine.” In another word, reality is free from illusions. Yet, how can an absolute reality, or truth, by itself, create illusions, or falsehood.
However, this is not to say that there’s no such thing as illusion. The discrepancy can be resolved by recognizing the fact that there are at least two realms of reality, where one reality becomes continuous with the other, thus creating a force, or a derivative, that takes on a life of its own. And isn’t the derivative of the two realities an illusion? For it’s outside the realm of what we perceive as true; it possesses some characteristics of its parent, which are familiar to us, while still retaining its individuality. Therefore, we came to the conclusion that for there to exist an illusion, there must exist at least two realities that create the distortions, or illusions.
FROLLO
Yet your very existence contradicts your argument. A kaleidoscope embodies one reality and numerous illusions.
KALOS
Conversely, the objects at my end cap cannot create the optical feast had there not been a mirror.
FROLLO
The objects at the end cap, in this case, symbolize truth while the patterns we see symbolize illusion. The objects themselves can’t create the patterns we see. For us to see the patterns, there must be a mirror, or a doer, that distorts reality. And the doer is really just another reality. Amusing indeed! Perhaps I do believe in numerous realities.
KALOS
Very good. Except, you should not. My statement is based on the premise that reality must be free from illusions. Can’t there be a world where illusions and reality are one entity or a world where falsehood has its own existence, its own reality?
FROLLO
I do not comprehend you. Do not forget, Kalos, that I think in language. Language has its limits and thus my imagination is confined. You see, in this world, to say there’s a world of illusion implies there’s a world of reality. And vice versa. So the definition given by society made it impossible to think that there’s a universe without duality. Meaning, whether you say you live in reality or the illusion, you concomitantly acknowledge the existence of the other. I can only imagine a world where illusions encapsulate realities and vice versa. I ask for your patience, my dear friend. I am mortal after all. I see the world through eyes that are mine yet don’t belong to me and understand it through judgment that I cannot comprehend.
KALOS
So I’ve perceived. And it’s for this reason my argument about the multiplicity of reality makes sense. And it is for this reason that you believe there even are such things as reality and illusions.
FROLLO
You confuse me. Now how can I escape the rabbit hole so that I can understand what you previously told me?
KALOS
To escape this dualist model, I propose we substitute the two words with experiences. After all, a world of reality and a world of illusion are really just two worlds that promise you different experiences.
FROLLO
Except the word “experiences” has a neutrality to it. Experiences can only differ. One cannot say one experience is truer than others.
KALOS
Indeed. Why can’t you apply that neutrality when examining reality and illusions? Between illusions and reality, how much difference is there? Does it even matter which one you are in? What’s the difference between the subjective and objective after all? You Western men are just too obsessed with your existence and all the real and unreal nonsense.
FROLLO
It’s ingrained in me. Now, may I ask, what would you do if you were me?
KALOS
Nothing of course. Not even a single word about this foreign world to my fellow men, let alone drag them to it.
FROLLO
By your logic, if there is no difference between the two, do you not contradict me by saying no?
KALOS
I think this only provides further justification, for if the consequences of my action don’t make a difference, why should I go through all the trouble to let my fellowman see the Matrix?
FROLLO
To escape the undesirable solidarity that knowledge bestowed up me?
KALOS
You have convinced me.
They exit.