Many notable works, including The Matrix, Plato’s Republic, Descartes’ Meditation I, and Dava Sobel’s Galileo’s Daughter, revolve around the notion that reality is vastly different from the illusions man accepts to be true.  In each work, man discovers truth through a distinct but related process, and from these processes, we can form conclusions as to the true nature of reality.  The cause of deception can be identified as well.  All of the works share a common idea: facing reality causes pain and disorientation for both individuals and society.  Based on the examination of the named works, one can use derive a process to reach conclusions about fundamental truths that cause suffering for the enlightened.

        To understand what is real, one must begin by going through a series of logical steps.  First, man must realize that he has been deceived and that his perception of reality is, at best, doubtful.  Then he must devise a way to find Truth.  Once he succeeds in finding Truth, man naturally denies it because it is painful.  Last, he must accept reality and shift his life to embrace this “brave new world.”  In The Matrix, the process is simple.  Morpheus offers Neo a choice between two pills.  Neo chooses to learn the truth and takes the red pill.  Plato’s version of enlightenment is not so easily attained.  In The Republic, the leader must journey out of the cave of darkness and into the brilliant sunlight, or out of the realm of belief and into the realm of knowledge.  Descartes’ plan is simple, yet difficult.  According to him, one must discard any belief that can be doubted and start from a foundation of known concepts.  Finally, Galileo proves that the prevailing conceptions about the universe were wrong through scientific evidence, logic, and pictures.

        After going through a process, man reaches conclusions about reality, which may or may not be concrete.  Neo concludes that the “world pulled over our eyes” is an illusion created by the matrix.  Plato’s man finds that the realm of knowledge is far greater than the realm of belief.  Very few can discover “that which is.”  Descartes decides that since we cannot find one single thing that cannot be doubted, we must continually live by questioning everything.  Galileo comes to a solid supposition: the “known” geocentric view of the universe is wrong, and the earth actually revolves around the sun.  In addition, he claims that these ideas do not have to oppose views held by the Church; however, his views caused much turmoil and revolution.
In each case, one can identify a cause or device used for deception.  In The Matrix, Artificial Intelligence itself is the culprit.  In Plato’s Republic, the device is not so clear.  Humans seem to have bound themselves in the darkness of the cave.  The passage of time aids deception as well.  The longer man remains in darkness, the more stubborn he becomes about leaving.  An evil demon is responsible for our dream world in Meditation I.  In Galileo’s Daughter, Sobel and Galileo maintain that our senses are to blame.  Because we cannot sense the motion of the earth, and because we perceive the heavens to be rotating above us, it is only natural to conclude that the earth is the center of the universe.  As in The Republic, time and habit worked against society because it failed to question the Ptolemaic system for 1500 years, falling into a trap of believing the accepted reality.
In all cases, it is painful to leave deception and face reality.  Neo dies and comes back to life, but the audience is left to wonder if the world as a whole is ready to embrace reality.  Plato’s city leader is blinded by the sunlight, and he pains himself again by returning to the darkness of the cave to save the rest of the society.  Descartes continually remains in a state of mental anguish as he cannot find anything stable on which to base reality.  Galileo was prosecuted and finally exiled for advocating his ideas because of the upheaval and distress caused by his physical evidence for a heliocentric system.

        To sum it up, after going through a process, man discovers that his reality is an illusion and can then make conclusions about the true nature of reality.  Suffering and havoc generally result from the frame shift from illusion to truth.