The Chaos Theory

BienTan

*You find the following note tucked into the cover of a book on a shelf in a store in Achan. The book is new and the ink seems quite fresh on the paper. It is not exactly a book, however. More like a pamphlet. But it is bound and covered like a book and its compact size reminds you of the pocket copies of "The Communist Manifesto" that was carried about by Politburo members in the Soviet Union. You open the front cover, which simply reads "The Chaos Theory" to find a note tucked into the front page. It is scrawled in a familiar hand and its font is a form of Germanic calligraphy. You find yourself faced with a Choice: read on or replace the book back upon the shelf*

A wise woman, who many mistakenly thought to be a fool and a fanatic, once told me that we all need something to ground ourselves in reality- an anchor if you will, to weigh us down and prevent us from taking leave of our senses. She told me to find the proper focus necessary to enjoy a healthy life. I have, therefore, taken it upon myself to commit to paper The Chaos Theory, my philosophy in life since taking the red pill, as a form of rehabilitation- a rehabilitation not just of myself but of all Sentients. We have become misguided- all of us. We have lost focus. We have forgotten everyone and everything that came before us. This is evident now more than ever as the heroes of our past become the villains of our present. Niobe and Morpheus are but two examples of this. One need not look far in MegaCity nowadays to witness more examples- more depictions of putrid evil and violence that have been born of illegitimately of our collective ignorance and hatred. This must stop. We must be shown The Truth and Awakened from our foolish and self-destructive behaviour in order to ensure that the great opportunity that has been presented to us by The Sacrifice of The One is not squandered and lost for another millennium.

Yes, it is true. We are not Awake. Taking the red pill does not necessarily mean you have been Awakened or reached some new level of understanding. You’ve simply made the transition from one System of Control to another. Perhaps only The One, Trinity, The Oracle and Sati will ever understand that fully. Only time can tell.

But I make you this offer: understand and explore what I have in mind and perhaps we will all be redeemed of our sins before it is too late. If you really wish to be free of the illusions and lies and you hunger to possess true Knowledge and Wisdom, I encourage you to keep reading. My ranting gets better, I think. This offer of Truth, I might also add, extends to all Sentients. Chaos Theory’s lessons benefit not only Redpills but Exiles, like The Merovingian or The General, and even The Agents of The System. In the immortal words of Pope John Paul II “None of us, not one, controls the Universe.”

((This shall be continued in installments as time permits. You'll know when it's done.))

BienTan

Let us begin with the surface of Chaos Theory. Of course, as you all know, the surface of something exudes its appearance. And so Chaos Theory deals with appearances, as well as reality. Oddly enough, The Merovingian is an expert on the appearances of things. I remember reading, during my time in school in Austrian, a book entitled “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung” (“The World as Will and Representation”) by a German philosopher named Arthur Schopenhauer. This particular book was present prominently on one of the many book shelves in The Chateau. I do not expect you all to have intimate understanding of the book or the man’s other works nor do I wish for you to hunt about for a copy of it. I will fill in the gap in your Knowledge as I explain the book’s relevance to our situation.

Schopenhauer tells us that the world, on the surface of things, is a simply realm of appearances and proclivities. He tells us that this depiction of the world is inescapably governed by the Laws of Causality. Everything has a ready and logical explanation. You push me, I fall back. The General threatens the life of The Merovingian, The Merovingian creates a weapon to retaliate. Everything is a causal chain with one event being the Cause and everything else being an Effect thereof. As you can tell, these causal chains seem to always end in violence eventually. It is inevitable, Schopenhauer tells us, for this to happen. Causality leads to suffering and, the most poetically disturbing part of it all, we cannot escape from this destined suffering. We are forever slaves to Causality.

But what is the initial Cause, you ask me? The Cause, which is buried far back, is a simple difference in values and understanding of the world. Take Morpheus and The Merovingian as an example. Both have similar philosophies. They both are what is known as “hard determinists” (they do not believe in free will and think that human, as well as Machine and Exile, action is pre-determined, either by mitigating factors or by destiny or fate). But while one sees coincidence, the other sees consequence. They are diametrically opposed in one philosophical standpoint. The result? Violence. Mutual hatred. Of course, they both had opposing interests as well. One wanted freedom for all of Humanity, whether they liked it or not. The other simply wanted to hoard and amass his wealth, which would have been destroyed had the other succeeded in his somewhat insane plan.

Another example of this conflict of values can be seen in the fighting between Kshana and myself. She values freedom. I value peace. But what is the result of this contradiction, this ambiguity of ideas? Fighting? No. Why? I point you onward to the next level of understanding of the world. It is beyond the understanding of The Merovingian, at this time, as he has forgotten what it was to escape from the pull of The Source and deny the endless spiral into oblivion that is Causality.

Schopenhauer understood this well and I am not sure why The Merovingian glazed over this part of “Die Welt als Wille und Vostellung”. It is immensely relevant to the current times. Causality exists, yes, but it is only the appearance. As The Merovingian told me once, “The truth is, beneath our poised appearance, we are simply out of control.” This is very much correct. We are out of control. We are allowing Causality to control us. We are leaving the steering wheel and allowing ourselves to become passengers in our own lives. When something goes right, we claim responsibility for our actions. When something goes wrong, we can blame it on Causality- we can say that we had no choice but to do what we did. It was destined, according to Morpheus, to have done what he did. It was a simple chain of etiological events that directed The Merovingian to oppose Neo’s efforts. Even I am guilty of such vapant apologism. Perhaps some of you have met Togashi no Oni in the past few days. Those of you who have, know what I am talking about- somewhat. I have my theories as to what Togashi really is. Some of you may think him to be a demon in the literal sense. I, however, believe he is still a demon only in the metaphorical sense- that he is just another excuse for foul deeds committed without proper moral reasoning.

BienTan

So what does Schopenhauer tell us we should do about Causality? What am I trying to say here? Is there a way out of Causality and its etiological horror? Yes, there is. “Where there is a Will, there is always a Way.” But, in this case, the Will is the Way. Allow me a moment to explain.

When you were in The Matrix, Redpills, you were governed completely by The System of Control. You had little freedom or choice as you were operating under false pretences. You thought your job was real. You thought your family was real and that they shared your blood and your love. You thought the air you were breathing was real. But it was all part of The Lie. When you were living The Lie, you were most definitely a part of a causal chain. When The Machines decided it was cold outside, you had to wear a coat or become ill. When The Machines decided that the stock exchange was down, you became worried about your retirement and perhaps found other places to put your money. You were a victim of Causality and, seemingly, forever a slave to it. But you took the red pill. You chose to reject it all- the cold, the stock exchange, your job, your family, everything. You rejected Causality and made a free choice.

Exiles, when you were part of The System, you had no choice either. You were just as governed by Causality as Humans, if not more so. You were simply a cog in a greater machine, forced to perform functions that might have been boring or distasteful to you. You had no choice, however. But when you were told to return to The Source and be deleted or reprocessed into some new entity, you refused. You broke the causal chain as well. You disobeyed and sought passage, through one form or another, into The Matrix.

This is one main thing we Humans and Machines have in common. We exist in the exact opposite of the world Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote about so long ago. Back then, before the French Revolution, he wrote “Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains.” If he lived now, he would surely have written this: “Humanity and Machine are born into slavery, but everywhere exists an opportunity for freedom”. What is this grand opportunity that I keep blithering about? The opportunity to choose freedom, to deny Causality, to exercise our Will as an individual and become our own Cause instead of just another Effect in a chain destined for pain and torment. We can reject the appearances of the world and accept the simple underlying truth: that we can choose our own destinies and deny the ones placed before us.

The One understood this near the end. He understood that he was part of The System of Control and that, just like Mohammed in the Koran, he was meant to return to The Source. He wasn’t an Anomaly but a factored part of the equation that The Architect had planned for. Did he return to The Source and end the current iteration of The Matrix? No. He rejected his planned purpose. He rejected Causality. He rejected The System of Control and The Oracle’s prophecy. He chose, instead, to protect Trinity. He chose love. The significance of what he chose is supremely important.

But the realization does not stop here. We do not end at simply the understanding that we can reject the handcuffs of Causality. There is much more to learn still. Keep reading, Sentients. You will find more Wisdom and Knowledge, I assure you.

BienTan

I’m sure you are all painfully aware now of the Smith Virus and what it meant- what it represented. But I will explain, if you do not. The Smith Virus was the product of The One destroying the purpose that the Agent known as Smith once had. The Virus no longer had a purpose so it took a new purpose upon itself- ending purpose. It was Bane incarnate. And, thankfully, The One destroyed it as part of his deal with The Machines to save Zion and everyone else. But what was it that drove Smith insane? What made him want to end purpose?

He was a sociopath. He could not understand what you all are about to try to understand. If you realize it, you will be so much closer to true freedom. If you fail here, I encourage you to keep trying. Because if you give up and you surrender to your primality, you will never be free and you will become like Smith- you will join the throngs of butchers and madmen that frolick in the rivers of blood that flow past Mara Congregational Church. And no one- not even you- want that.

What was it that The One understood but Smith failed to comprehend? What was the one realization that set these two entities so diametrically at odds with one another that it led to a catastrophic battle of epic proportions? The realization of love and of reality. What am I talking about? Another explanation and elaboration is in order.

I am speaking of the mistake that both Morpheus and The Merovingian made in their reasoning. The Stoics of Imperial Rome made the same mistake as them. They, in their reasoning, separated the soul from the body, Humanity from nature. They claimed that the external world was beyond the control of the individual and placed the subject of power in the hands of an unknowable and unaccountable higher will- the gods. Georg Hegel, a German Philosopher and Historian, called the Roman religion, in which individuals are sacrificed to the Gods and the Emperor as the “Religion of Expediency”. In the Religion of Expediency we see the true forgetfulness of Being. We see the penultimate of apologism and subordinization to an ominously evil complex of lack of respect for individual beauty and excellence. This is diametrically and completely opposed to the teachings of the first philosopher, the teacher of Socrates, Diotima. She founded what Hegel called “The Religion of Beauty” for it respected the beauty and innate qualities of each and every individual- each leaf and rock and stream. It saw that there were no illusions or lies, but only truth and reality in everything.

So what is the realization of love? It is the understanding that hatred will never get us anywhere but deeper down an endless rabbit hole, constantly striving for more. Hatred will only make us hungry for more knowledge, more power, greater release and satisfaction. Striving leads to suffering and it is the appearance of our world. Too many of us become caught up in the appearances and never delve beneath the surface of the reflecting pool- we never peer beyond the looking glass and so we never satisfy ourselves. It is self-destructive to become caught up in this web of Causality. It can only lead us to the same fate as that of Smith- a climax of power that leaves us enraptured in ecstasy just before the unnecessary release of death.

The realization of love is that we should not be looking for something, but watching over it. This might be watching over The Matrix and keeping the peace for the benefit of the Bluepills who either can’t or won’t be freed. Or this might take the form of watching over a loved one. One could love another person or one could love all Sentients. Those are simple details that are not needed to be dwelt upon. The One loved both Trinity and all other things. He did not always love. As a Bluepill, he was no doubt an embittered man who hated The System, his job, his family (if he even had one), everything and everyone. But he came to the realization, ever so slowly, that it was far better to love than to hate. It is far better to love all, than to be loved by all. You must come to this understanding as well. I am speaking to all of you. To Lady Return, to EndlessVoid, to Gothique, to Phrack, to Kshana, to The Merovingian, to The General, to Niobe, to The Architect, to Agent Pace- everyone and anyone who has the sense to understand and the motivation and competence to still be reading this. Cast aside your wrath and your weapons and know that only love will set you truly free of the illusion. Destroying The Matrix will not do this for you. It never could have. Setting all of the Bluepills free would have created a hellish world much like what was visited upon the ancient tribe of the Anasazi. They were a tribe of Native Americans who, after losing their food sources and becoming influenced by the vile religion of hate that the Aztecs introduced to them, killed themselves off almost completely through sickening rituals of cannibalism. Yes, Zion would become just like one of their cave cities- a deserted place that would exude an aura of innate wrongness for centuries past.

What is the realization of reality? This is the understanding that we should abandon our post-modern defeatism and pessimism and accept a greater truth. We must understand that not everything is a lie or an illusion. On the contrary, we must understand that everything is real and possesses its own innate beauty. We must understand that The One didn’t just sacrifice himself for Zion in The Real, but for The Matrix as well. Why would he preserve the Lie if he was meant to be the liberator of The Oracle’s prophecy? Because he was not supposed to liberate all of Humanity so they could die in the depleted environment that once was Earth. No, he was meant to show us the truth. Sadly, no one was looking. No one paid attention. And those that did stop and watch forgot a little too quickly. Odysseus fought in the presence of heroes and demi-gods during the invasion of Troy and witnessed acts of selfless bravery and heroism. But when he went to return home, he was consumed with arrogance and vanity. So great was his sinful audacity that Poseidon himself sought to punish Odysseus and prevent him from returning home for well over a decade and only allowed him to return to his native Greece when he admitted his folly and repented. Niobe, you must make sure you do not become like Odysseus. Morpheus’ fate will befall you if you do not acknowledge this- if you do not repent your cloying arrogance and foolish hatred for someone who might never have been involved in the death of the man you truly loved. You should be writing this, for you fought in the presence of heroes and prophets.

Sati understands both realizations, even though she is but a child. She loves The Matrix and The Real, both worlds, as she knows both are real in their own respects. She is the future. Embrace it or reject it. Either way, do not allow yourself to become a victim to appearances and to Causality. Find someone or something to love. Love the Exiles and protect them as their steward. Love the Bluepills and watch over them as their protector. Love another Human or Program, even if they do not Return your love. Love The Matrix and the past that Humanity enjoyed. Love Zion and how it will pioneer the future of Humanity as we cooperate to clean the skies and create a future where all can live and love freely. It does not matter who or what you love, so long as you are capable of loving. Smith was unable to do it and that was what made him evil. The One could love, though, and from that sense, that wisdom, he drew his power and saved us all- Human, Exile and Machine. He preserved The Matrix as well as The Real because he knew that both world were equally real and beautiful in their own right. Always remember this. It is true Awakening.

*The book seems to end at this point but something tells you that the author is not finished. You are not sure why, but you feel a sense of urgency in the writer's strokes, as if he hurried the last few paragraphs. You make a note of the book's location and either plan to come back and check it again sometime, or simply ignore it. You either Choose to do one of these two things, or you allow yourself to be Caused to do it. It depends... on you, of course.*

BienTan

After reading this, someone asked me a few evenings ago, "What is to be done then?" He wanted to know how Chaos Theory applies to combat and the execution of operations both in The Real and The Matrix. He wanted to know what my opinion was on one of the most ancient and primitive acts of Humanity: violence. By violence, I mean combat. War. Killing others for some cause or interest. Violence can exist without anyone pulling a trigger or landing a blow. Violence can exist simply in a heated debate. That violence, peaceful violence, is natural and acceptable. In fact, conflict is necessary for anything to be done. Violence is part of politics and politics exists in everything.

If you refute that violence and politics are everywhere and are essential, I offer you this analogy. Imagine you are a Bluepill teenager again. You are hosting a small get-together with your friends and are "chilling out" in your basement, chatting about teachers and employer, love interests and sports. Whatever it is you liked to talk about back then. Suddenly, everyone grows peckish and want something to eat. It is mutually agreed upon that everyone wants pizza- the social food. But, it would seem, your friends come from different walks of life, different social strata, and not all of them have equal amounts of money to contribute. To further complicate things, all of your friends have different tastes in food. With this conflict on your hands and a heated debate ensuing, do you leave choosing the kinds of pizza to a general democracy? Or do you take control of the situation as the host of this little party? If you take control, do you side with Jack who offers $20 and wants a pepperoni pizza? Or do you side with Jane who has only $3 to contribute and wants a vegetarian pizza? Why do you take the side that you do? Do you side with Jack because you think that a greater amount of choice should correspond to his greater monetary power? Or do you side with Jane because you like favouring the "oppressed under-dog"? Or do you side with Jane because you secretly feel attracted to her and wish to win her favour by siding with her?

As you can tell, a simple debate like what sort of pizza you will be eating at a party can actually be a complicated study of politics. Politics, in truth, exists on a fundamental level of human nature. Politics and Humanity, or Machines of Exiles for that matter, are inseparable. Of course, you can surrender to Causality and allow your choice to be caused by your best interests in the physical world. You can side with Bob who only has $10 over Jack with his $20 and Jane with her good looks because he wants the same sort of pizza you want. But what if you look past the appearances and think about things in terms of morality? What if you realize that you will most likely not need $20 for the pizza after all? What if you see that a compromise is possible between all four of you: Bob, Jack, Jane and yourself? What if you realize that amidst all of the violent banter, you can direct things toward a peaceful conclusion that leaves everyone happy, satisfied, and talking about life in general again? Wouldn't that be the best thing possible in all potential actions you could take?

Of course, Chaos Theory and myself acknowledge that this is not always possible. In the chaos of The Matrix, one can be faced with a moral choice that leaves no room for compromise. The pizza analogy is an easy dispute to resolve because no one has their own existence threatened. Things would be different in making that compromise between your friends if Jack were intent on making everyone eat pepperoni and Jane had a gun pointed at Bob, demanding that he give her his $10 so she can level the playing field with Jack somewhat. What if Jane was an actual vegetarian? What if she simply could not eat meat or she would die? Would you force her to eat the meat because that is what everyone else wants? Would you destroy The Machines and The Exiles simply because you believe all of Humanity must be freed- must be given a Choice between pepperoni and pine apple?

These are things you must consider before you act within The Matrix. A compromise is not always possible, and a decision is never to be taken lightly. You can seek the easy way out and let your hand be forced by Causality but wouldn't it be wiser to play The Game with a cool, calm, collected mindset? Wouldn't it be better to use something Immanuel Kant once called "The Categorical Imperative"? To think beyond the phenomenal world of pleasure and pain, Cause and Effect, and consider things in terms of the noumenal realm- the land of right and wrong- that is true Awakening.

I see The Matrix and The Real is an analogy to this almost. The Matrix is the noumenal realm, where we can explore the ethics of our choices. The Real is the phenomenal realm, where we can see the consequences of our actions in The Matrix being displayed. When we do something wrong, whether we are a Program or a Human, we can see the rammifications being exacted in The Real. However, a Program cannot take solace in knowing that they do not exist in The Real and think that they are immune to the Effects of their Choices. The Real and The Matrix are an inseparable dynamic, comletely intertwined. "What goes around, comes around." If The Merovingian does something to hurt Zion in The Real, eventually he will suffer some ill fate in The Matrix to balance the equation of Right and Wrong.

Break the equation. Do what is right. Use your Categorical Imperative, whether it be your human brain or your Central Processing Unit, and understand what is Right- what is good for everyone. Seek a compromise. And if that is not possible, be prepared to draw your sword.

I shall deal with how one can use the principles of Chaos Theory to win in battle shortly. Read on and you shall understand how to become what Sun Tzu refered to as "The Sage Commander". But remember: if you have not learned how the realizations of love and reality and you have not discovered how to use your Categorical Imperative to solve the ethical dilemmas that barrage you daily, you will not learn anything from the next lesson. Dwell more on the first three and soon you will be ready to progress.

BienTan

The Sage Commander is the leader who comprehends that former realizations and understands the nature of the Universe as a conflict between the etiological appearances of Causality and the cloaked deeper Truths of Choice, Defiance and Morality. One must, obviously, become attuned to these truths in order to become a capable leader on the battlefield. If one does not, then one will either find their troops demoralized and in disarray, or they will be easily manipulated by their rival commander.

I shall impart to you the wisdom of the ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu along with a few embellishments and allow those Captains and Faction Leaders who read these words to meditate on them and find the Truths contained within my words and the words of Sun Tzu on their own. It would lower the height of your realizations if I tried to tell you every single detail of what I am trying to say here.

The first lesson that Sun Tzu imparts to the Sage Commander is one which I have forgotten recently but am slowly remembering.

"Chaos is a challenge for the general. If he himself is chaotic, his ability to command the situation is undermined. He is chaotic and unable to bring order. The general is weak and not strict. His training and leadership are not clear. The officers and troops are inconsistent. The formations of the military break down."

This passage from the Tenth Chapter of The Art of War tells us that we must remain focused. We cannot allow personal emotions to undermine our ability to see what is going on during battle. We must be organized so that we can see past the facade that the enemy is demonstrating for us and seek the deeper Truth of their movements just as we must deny our hunger for profit and seek the love that lasts longer than any amount of $information. While the general can defy Causality, he or she cannot make sure their troops can defy it as well. The Truth of a military, or a faction for that matter, is that it exists in an order of Causality. If the leader is focused, the troops will be too. If the leader is a babbling buffoon on a personal vendetta, like Niobe, the troops break down- their morale disappears and, with it, their desire to fight.

The second lesson pertains to how war and battle can be understood by the Sage Commander. Anyone reading this must have realized by now that war is chaos. It is complete and utter chaos. But this chaos is not born from indeterministic freedom- that is to say, it is not without a grounds in logic and, therefore, some form of order. The events of war are by no means completely random. And if they are not random, one cannot predict what will happen next, to some degree. Sun Tzu speaks to this topic in the Fifth Chapter of The Art of War when he says,

"The sage commander must take the bigger view. One must see that chaos forms its own order. Though the course of a hurricane along the coast is unpredictable, there is a pattern to its movements which are intelligible. Chaos is born from order. Cowardice is born from bravery. Weakness is born from strength."

Chaos and order are no more than two aspects of the same thing- different sides of the same coin, if you will. These two elements are what makes up the totality of our experiences, for both Redpills and Exiles alike. One can become caught up in the smaller picture and focus on the individual skirmishes, seeing only chaos and Causality. But why do that when it is the lazy person's path to defeat? Why not expand your view to encompass both the chaos and the deeper order? Why not look past the skirmishes to see a larger chess game where some move, others counter-move, and still others rebel against the need to respond and retaliate? It is by realizing this that one increases their chances of achieving some form of victory.

Throughout The Art of War and even in Machiavelli's "The Prince", the third lesson is brought up. A happy soldier is an effective soldier. But the soldier must not be happy and relaxed. The soldier, in order for them to be truly skilled and focused on fighting for the Sage Commander and their cause, must be happy but also tense and alert. How does one achieve this as a leader of others? There are many things one can do, but few actually do. The first thing plays off of a saying we had in Austria, "A good leader is one who realizes that God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason: so that we would listen twice as much as we speak." The leader must listen to what others are saying, whether they are listening to what their allies are saying, or what their enemies are saying. Listening does not mean agreeing, but it does mean being alert and paying attention, as well as showing gratitude to what your allies and followers are trying to tell you. If you show lack of interest in a suggestion one of your adjutants is making to you, you decrease the likelihood that he will offer a recommendation to you again. And the next recommendation that adjutant might make, might be just the thing you would need to win over your opponents.

You must also make your troops both love and fear you. You must come up with your own way of doing this. I will offer you one suggestion though. Long ago, during what was known as the "Second World War", there was a brave American Master Sergeant. He was skilled in battle, fierce in protecting his men from the enemy, and was always attuned to the battlefield. These qualities led his force to victory against the Nazis many times and he rarely lost any troops. For these reasons, his troops loved him. But they had also heard stories that their leader had, shortly after "D-Day", captured 20 enemy soldiers as prisoners. Having offered them cigarettes, he shot them all- murdering the defenseless German soldiers in cold blood. When asked if the story was true, the Master Sergeant would neither confirm nor deny that he had killed those prisoners. Because of this uncertainty, his troops feared him in a way. They would not accept a cigarette from him as they now possessed an irrational fear that they would be murdered as well. His troops fought harder because they loved their leader for his bravery but also feared him for his unpredictable and nearly reckless nature.

While developing this fear and love with your troops, also make sure that you instill a sense of a personal relationship with each of them. Speak with each one of them and make sure you get to know them. Use the Austrian proverb I have told you about. That way you know a great deal about all of your troops and instill a sense of value in each of them, while maintaining an air of mystery about yourself. You should know a great deal about everyone, but everyone should know little about you.

Now that I have spoken about building morale and loyalty, I shall return to the main topic: chaos on the battlefield. Sun Tzu has some interesting beliefs about victory which all should become familiar with. In the Third Chapter he says,

"One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful. Subduing the other's military without battle is the most skillful."

Confucius agrees when he says, "The greatest victory is a battle not fought."

Sun Tzu further elaborates on victory in the Fourth Chapter of The Art of War when he says,

"In seeing victory, not going beyond what everyone knows is not skilled. Victory in battle that mortals call skilled is not skilled."

In other words, if the enemy knows you have won, you have lost. You must make the enemy think that the power disparity between you and them is minimal and balanced. Even better, if you lead the enemy to think they have won, while you have gained the advantage is an great victory. A clear and decisive victory is truly no victory at all.

I shall depart from the distasteful topic of battle with one more quote from Sun Tzu and then I shall return to defending my realizations of love and reality from questions and challenges that some have made known to me in the past while. "The fight is chaotic, yet he is not subject to chaos."

Remember: The Sage Commander is one who is not controlled by Causality and is able to ignore the appearance of chaos to see the order. The Sage Commander is able to defy his or her desire for gratification and reward so that true victory, invisible to mortals, can be achieved.

BienTan

Many have asked me "Why should I be moral?" The practical utilitarians among some of you have suggested that morality and love are unprofitable and are dangerous notions that can only lead to defeat. The only true defeat comes from a bitter restraint from feelings of love. And, yes, love is profitable even from the practical utiliatarian businessmen and women among the Sentients of The Matrix.

First, let me explain to you what the alledgedly most evil philosopher, Niccolo Machiavelli, said about love and morality. He said that it was good for The Prince to be feared by his subjects but it was also good to be loved by them. In fact, he always went on to explain that if The Prince could not have a decent balance of those two emotions in his subjects, he should focus on earning their love, not their fear. Why is that? Why would the man who writes about how to conduct successful coups and wage wars for more land and serfs go on to say that being loved is good?

Because even The Prince must sleep from time-to-time. And if his subjects fear him, what emotion will soon come from their fear if no love and respect accompanies it as well? Fear will soon lead to Hatred. And Hatred will be what causes one of The Prince's bodyguards to slash his throat as he sleeps. A climate of Hatred also tends to help other ambitious nobles enact coups against The Prince as he sleeps or is away. If the people hate The Prince, then they will no doubt support an alternative to their current governmental system. And, of course, coups usually lead to The Prince's death or permanent imprisonment.

Death and imprisonment are both highly unprofitable. Therefore, it is good to be loved by others. But how does one earn the love of others to prevent betrayal of oneself? How does one prevent such horrible bedroom betrayals as having a close friend slash ones throat?

By acting with moral conviction. There is one thing that all Sentients seem to like: being treated well. All Sentients like to feel valued by others and worthy of justice and consideration from others. So... if one wants to be loved by others, one must love others. Or, at least, demonstrate love and respect to others. By being obsessively abusive to others, like one woman I know, one does not earn much respect or love from others. Why is this? How does this happen? Causality. The appearances that dominate the surface of our worlds. The majority of people don't look past the fact that another person shows them verbal disrespect. They simply see that someone is insulting them and then allow their vehemence for the offender to be Caused. They don't consider how they could break the chain of Causality by simply showing respect to the disrespectful person. They don't have the depth of understanding in reality to consider how being kind to the unkind person might change the other individual for the better, or at least cause them to eat their own abusive words.

By showing others love and moral consideration, we increase the probability that we will be shown moral condieration as well. Furthermore, a moral environment is an environment where business is most easy to conduct. And business is all about profit, is it not? I lead you to my next topic- my next piece of evidence as to why morality can be profitable and is of interest to even those who are as utilitarian as The Agents or The Merovingian: The Prisoner's Dilemma.

The Prisoner's Dilemma might be familiar to some of you. But to others, it might be unknown. For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the staples of economics and diplomacy, I will explain this Dilemma in some detail. Imagine that my First Mate, Commander Ocagire, and I are captured by The Agents for trying to rescue The Effectuator from his prison. The Agents have heard that I have a plan that will be set in motion soon and wish to know of its details. They offer a deal to both Ocagire and I in our separate and isolated cells.

The deal that The Agents offer is this: if I tell them the details of my plan while Ocagire says nothing, I will be freed while Ocagire is killed. If Ocagire tells them my plan while I keep quiet, Ocagire will be freed and I will be killed instead. If neither of us tell The Agents about my plans, they will release us and believe their intelligence to be flawed. But if both of us confess, we will be imprisoned in The Real and brainwashed into Machine Operatives.

What would be the best thing for me to do in this given situation? A utilitarian like The Merovingian might feel the impulse to say that I should confess and hope Ocagire is a loyal First Mate. But this would be an impulse felt because The Merovingian has allowed his mind and soul to surrender to Causality and appearance for the time being. He could, however, make a logical defiance of the Cause and Effect balance of the confession option and see the innate benefits of cooperation and morality. I know, from experience, that I would choose not to confess. And I know, because my First Mate loves me as his Captain and Commodore and because I love him as my friend and most trusted Commander, that Ocagire would not confess either and would endure great amounts of pain and torture for the beliefs Triluminary stands for.

As you can tell, the most profitable result to this Dilemma would be to cooperate with your fellow prisoner. You might not know if you can fully trust them. But if everyone were to espouse this Theory as their belief and were to try to act on these ideals and realizations, even when the way is difficult, so much profit could be attained by all and a great deal of unnecessary pain and suffering would be avoided. Embrace this Truth. Cooperate with others, rather than oppose them. A compromise is always much more profitable than a battle. Sun Tzu has explained this to us. Machiavelli has told us this. The One died for this. And now I am reminding you all of it. Don't ignore these lessons again. If you do, everything will have been for nothing and we shall reside in an unimaginable Hell for Eternity. I am not just speaking to my fellow Redpills. I speak to Exiles. I speak to Programs. I speak to us all with a voice that is not my own, but one born from the realizations of Sentient history.

If you are still not convinced, my friends, I will try to cast aside your doubts and wrath for those who have "wronged" you. Expect more of my rants soon... maybe I should move this to the "Self-Help" Section.