Matrix: questioning reality
A few hours ago, I saw a post from a friend @krnel and I saw an appointment in his publication that caught my attention "see here" and I started thinking that I was going to investigate exhaustively about THE MATRIX, this movie is from 1999 based on a surreal world "let's start"
What is Matrix? That's the question that goes around the head of the protagonist, Neo, and the viewer the first time he sees the movie. Today, the trilogy of the Wachowski Sisters is well known to the general public; There have been countless analyzes of the films and, sometimes, they are used to complement some philosophy classes.
I'm not going to talk about the whole trilogy, but about the first film, because maybe it is the most significant and the one that asks the most questions. It is difficult to summarize in an article all the points worthy of analysis that appear in the film, so I will focus on making a global analysis of some of the feelings we have after watching the film, without dwelling too much on any issue.
How can we know that we are awake? That is real? Surely many of us who have seen the film we have raised these types of issues and, most likely, we have done it before. Many of us have had the sensation of not acting with total freedom, many of us have thought that our acts are predetermined (or very influenced) or that we live an eternal constant return of the most Nietzschean; even, that we are being manipulated and controlled and that we are inside a dream. Matrix gives an answer to all these questions, it is a kind of contemporary myth, a solution to some dilemmas of humanity.
The technological advances that were born to make life easier have ended by enslaving us, those increasingly intelligent machines have acquired their own will, achieved and overcome human intelligence itself. However, the energies are exhausted, resources are scarce and these machines need to be fed; In this way, after a war, machines have enslaved humans, turning them into sources of food. Humans have been forced to live a dream, to sleep a lifetime connected to the machines that, now, feed on them.
A dystopian and tenebrous future that, however, is becoming less and less absurd. Some humans have managed to resist and live in the only free city, Sion, from which they access the Matrix with the intention of releasing more humans and wage a struggle to get out of slavery. A science fiction speech, but full of criticism, loaded with power and capable of making us rethink our own reality. How do I know if I'm not living a dream? Do I own my decisions?
What is Matrix?
The first thing I will try to do is answer the question with which we opened the article, what is Matrix? Morfeo himself is the one who answers this by saying: "it is the world that has been placed before your eyes to hide the truth from you", that is, the Matrix is
a lie, a deception to the senses; It is not real, but we perceive it as real. This, no doubt, refers us to the myth of the Platonic cavern.
Plato told us that the senses are deceptive, that they are not reliable. For those who do not remember it, the myth of the cave presents us humans who live hand and foot tied watching the bottom of a cave, behind them, a lit fire projects shadows in the background that they contemplate. For these humans, that background is reality, because it is the only thing they know, the only thing they have access to and what they perceive from the senses.
If one of these humans manages to escape, he will access the real world, knowledge; At first, the light will blind your eyes, you will feel pain and you will have to adapt. When returning to the cave, probably, their companions believe that they lie and wish to kill him, those companions only know a reality and, consequently, they will protect it; It is their reality and they do not want it to be endangered.
Something that reminds us a lot of times past, think, for example, in Galileo or Copernicus. In Matrix, Neo has a suspicion, an idea that goes around his head; Like Alice in Wonderland, Neo will follow a rabbit that will take him down the burrow but, in this case, he will not access a fantastic and unreal place, but will come to the real world, to the world of ideas what Plato proposed.
The interesting thing about the Matrix is, in addition, how it responds to "reality", taking things as everyday and known as deja vù, giving it meaning, adapting it to the proposed system. Matrix is
A kind of virtual reality in which we are all asleep and live as if it were real. Is not it true that when we wear virtual reality glasses, despite knowing that it is not real, our senses interpret it as if it were? That is precisely what happens in The Matrix, the sensations are perceived as real and, as a result, we stop questioning whether we are awake or not.
On the other hand, those questions that Neo poses about their reality remind us deeply of Descartes, who solved the problem by talking about an evil genius who manipulated and deceived us, just like the machines in the Matrix do. Descartes doubts everything and Matrix makes us also doubt our senses.
All this refers us, in turn, to the philosopher Hilary Putnam, who posed something similar to the evil genius, but renewed. How can we know that we are not brains in buckets? How can we know that we are not living a shared dream? That is what put Putnam and we also see in The Matrix, a simulation shared by all, without being aware of the nature of what we are living.
We're free?
If we live trapped in a shared dream that we do not own, we must ask ourselves if destiny exists and if our actions are really ours. One of the most interesting characters in this regard is the Oracle, because it is he who tells Neo that he has the capacity to decide, that he alone is the master of his decisions and the curious thing is that, precisely, the Oracle is the character linked to destiny. The film is constantly based on decisions: red or blue pill, know the truth or not. This freedom of choice has been related to Sartre's existentialism.
If there is no destiny, if there is nothing written, then we are the ones who, with our decisions, draw it. But the film also raises the possibility of a destination, something already predetermined and, at the same time, appear arguments that contradict it. The Oracle will be one of the most important characters at this point, but also Morpheus, whose position does not negate any of the previous hypotheses: he believes in destiny, but also in the power to decide.
Matrix also raises the problem of knowledge and happiness, we see that the real world they access when leaving the simulation has nothing good, discover a terrifying truth and are immersed in a world of shadows. At this point, it is worth asking if that knowledge is really good, if it leads to happiness. Happiness has been seen as the supreme good, the object to be achieved throughout human life.
Cifra is the repentant character of the film, he wanted to access the truth, but when he meets her, he decides that he prefers to return to the unreal world, the fantasy world and ignore reality. Figure decides that he prefers to live a life in ignorance to know the truth.
The amount of philosophical questions proposed by Matrix is really interesting, it makes us, for a moment, become judges, observers, and ask ourselves questions about our decisions, happiness and the world around us. Undoubtedly, Matrix is a must in philosophy classrooms, a film that recovers some threads of philosophy and, as if it were a myth, tries to answer, erasing prejudices and opening our minds, doubting everything.
One of my favourite conversations of 2016 was with a student who told me that I'd "ruined The Matrix" for him because he liked it better when he thought it wasn't a serious idea. I should email him to see how he's going - thanks for the reminder.
(Will upvote later once my VP recovers a bit).
nothing friend .. do not worry, I understand
I remember the mind bending experience brought on by my first viewing. Highly recommend the animatrix series if you dig the trilogy.
Also, a few ways I know I'm awake. I'm part kf the counter culture movement. Taking control of my life. Bringing my dreams I to reality. Making the system work for me instead of the alternative. And consistently pushing my agenda on my reality. While gathering new resources. Plus opening channels to my spirit, which can be debated either way. I just know it's good to feel alive. Making conscious decisions in the steps I take everyday. Not allowing the ball to roll over me, but spinning it in the path I've chosen.
you have to live in reality as you are living it ... in the matrix you go into a metaphor of two worlds ... the real world is where we live and the surreal world of fantasy but it can also harm us.
Yes I am aware. But I like to tell myself that the matrix is strictly fantastical. When in fact, we are guided by a number of matrices. Astrology being one guaranteed.
For real though, watch the animatrix
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