“Who is Andrew Tate?” was one of the most Googled searches in 2022. A kickboxer turned social media personality whose online videos on TikTok alone have amassed 11 billion views, keeps making references to “The Matrix”. The appearance-reality distinction that underlies Tate’s pronouncements has a distinguished pedigree, going all the way back to Plato. But another philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, warned of the dangers of believing that reality is only accessible by the few, and lies beyond the ever-changing world of experience, writes Alexis Papazoglou.