The Matrix (1999) explores many interesting philosophical questions. Can we really be sure of our reality? Maybe we are living in a computer generated dreamworld? How do we really know we are here? These questions are a branch of philosophy called scepticism - we can't fully be sure our knowledge is accurate. As mentioned in a prior post - the French philosopher Rene Descartes traces all our knowledge and thoughts down to one thing - Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. We can doubt everything except the fact that we are actually thinking right now. This is twisted in the film The Matrix. We are being deceived by AI who use us as an energy source. Descartes also came up with this idea before the Wachowski's, he came up with the idea of an 'Evil Demon' (sort of an evil God) which was deceiving us all the time. Descartes didn't really think this was true, but it could be a possibility.
A further line of exploration involves the idea that reality is just our experiences, thoughts, and memories. Our thoughts and memories can be doubted - people with amnesia, or people that use drugs have warped memories. What about our experiences? Can our experiences be certain?
Another philosopher George Berkeley (1685-1753) endorsed a view that the only reality we can be sure of is our mental reality - Idealism. All reality is mental. For example the color red - what is it exactly? Doesn't is change in certain lighting conditions? Isn't it just electromagnetic wavelengths that our brains interpret? Color is a mental attribute, not part of the physical world. This is the same for everything else that exists for idealists. Plato spoke to this with the Allegory of the Cave. What we see is false projections of the ideal.
What do you think the film tells us? How can the film be applied to our lives today?
It's Isaiah this participation is killing my grade Weisback!!!!!
ReplyDeletestart participating then!
ReplyDeleteThe Matrix questions almost, if not all aspects of our lives and makes us ponder if whatever we’re feeling or experiencing is actually “real.” And then we’re left to wonder what “real” actually means.
ReplyDeleteOne of the many subjects that The Matrix addresses is the subject of reality. And one of the messages that the film holds is that we can choose how we perceive the world around us.
I think that part of the point of having Cypher in the film is to reflect upon how we can view reality. We can view reality in a couple of different ways; for example, the way we see things from our own personal perspective, from the perspective of others, and what is actually there. We can take things that we see around us and put our own personal spin on it, we can imagine what it’s like to be in other people’s shoes, or we can simply try to ignore everything and just see what’s really there. I think the movie sort of pushes forth the idea that while we are allowed to see things in our own way, we also have to remain aware of what’s truly present. This is represented by Neo and the crew in the end being determined to free the prisoners from their captor, the Matrix; ripping them from the reality they know and showing them a world that they don’t know - the real world. I mean, there is also that whole “humans trapped in a virtual reality by Machines” bit, so they do have to free them from the hands of the Machines, lest they continue being used as a power source, but still. Interestingly, you could even see it vice-versa; where what you make of what’s around you from your own perspective can truly be what’s “real”, represented by what Cypher does.
When Cypher decides after nine years of living in the “real” world that he wants to go back into the Matrix without any memories of those nine years, he effectively denies the reality presented to him – the real world; one that he was originally curious about, and one that he regretted discovering. Cypher chooses to escape to a virtual reality where nothing actually exists; it is all an illusion, though it feels real enough. And Cypher chooses to make his life in the Matrix his reality. He prefers to live a life ignorant of what is actually there, instead of remaining aware and in battle against the Machines. And in a war where the Machines are winning, it seems easier to ignore the problem. “Ignorance is bliss,” as he says, or, perhaps, “Ignorance is strength.” And thus, the film asks us whether or not it’s better to stay uninformed; if it’s better to not know or stay ignorant of what may lie beyond, and whether we really want to expand our “world” or not.
You're right Kenny - and there is are many people who willingly live their lives in ignorance.
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