ABSTRACT
Based on Plato's Allegory of the Cave, in which prisoners are tricked into believing that the imaginary is the only truth, the Matrix is a computer-generated dream world that camouflages a war-ravaged earth and keeps most of humanity enslaved in virtual fantasy. Unaware of the illusory nature of the reality in which they 'live', humans are in fact grown in womb-like pods and kept in a permanent embryonic sleep. In a world ravaged by war, the Matrix Power plant is now the Great Mother of humanity, the source and sustenance of all natural life. But it is a cold, corrupt and deceitful Mother, incapable of love. It offers a fantasy world which presents as a secure retreat from the post-apocalyptic reality but in return quashes freedom and keeps humans in contented servitude. Empathic attunement provides a bridge between subjective realities and connects the seemingly unconnected.
