1. The movie “The Matrix” displays a social deception in which
Neo, the main character, is caught between what he thought was once reality and
a whole new world that controls everything he thought was real. If I were Neo, I
would not truly be able to know that I was in the matrix. However, it is
rational to believe that I am in the matrix and will eventually enter back into
my reality later. The proof that that I can know that I am in the matrix and
that I will return to reality comes from the responses of foundationalism and
idealism.
To begin, foundationalism is the essence of what we are certain of. Many
philosophers argue on the basis of foundationalism to find out where knowledge
begins. This will help determine if Neo would be able to know or not know if he
is dreaming up the matrix or in fact that it is reality. The popularity of
foundationalism starts with Descartes. He challenged the previously popular
skepticism. In Descartes Meditations he discusses many issues relating to the
question of “where does knowledge come from?” His main arguments appear in his
dreaming argument. He first begins by stating
a. I often have perceptions very much like the ones I usually
have in sensation while I am dreaming. Then he goes on to say
b. There are no definite signs to distinguish dream experience
from waking experience. These two premises lead to the conclusion that
c. It is possible that I am dreaming right now and that all my
perceptions are false.
This shows that there is no real way to know to know anything.
Descartes add to his argument using foundationalism. “’Throughout my writings I
have made it clear that my method imitates that of the architect. When an
architect wants to build a house which is stable on ground where there is a
sandy topsoil over underlying rock, or clay, or some other firm base, he begins
by digging out a set of trenches from which he removes the sand, and anything
resting on or mixed in with the sand, so that he can lay his foundations on firm
soil. In the same way, I began by taking everything that was doubtful and
throwing it out, like sand ... (Replies 7, AT 7:537)’ (Lex, Newman)”. This
explains how foundationalism works; you must remove all of your doubt to advance
to the foundation of which you are sure of. This is called the method of doubt.
Once you know what you are sure of, you can build up knowledge from there. Many
wonder how we can wonder we are not dreaming. Some agree that you cannot feel
pain in a dream, but others say they have. The argument that dreams are not
related to memory is strong because most people do not remember their dreams.
Descartes explains that in a dream you can feel as if you are using all of your
senses, but they seem to be more vague than when awake. Descartes struggles with
the dream issue until he comes upon his conclusion. "For I now notice that there
is a vast difference between the two, in that dreams are never linked by memory
with all the other actions of life as waking experiences are. If, while I am
awake, anyone were suddenly to appear to me and then disappear immediately, as
happens in sleep, so that I could not see where he had come from or where he had
gone to, it would not be unreasonable for me to judge that he was a ghost, or a
vision created in my brain, rather than a real man. But when I distinctly see
where things come from and where and when they come to me, and when I can
connect my perceptions of them with the whole of the rest of my life without a
break, then I am quite certain that when I encounter these things I am not
asleep but awake. And I ought not to have even the slightest doubt of their
reality if, after calling upon all the senses as well as my memory and my
intellect in order to check them, I receive no conflicting reports from any of
these sources." (Meditation 6, para 89 - 90)
|
| 2. It is easy to confuse the concepts of "virtual reality" and a
"computerized model of reality (simulation)".
The former is a self-contained
Universe, replete with its "laws of physics" and "logic". It can bear
resemblance to the real world or not. It can be consistent or not. It can
interact with the real world or not. In short, it is an arbitrary environment.
In contrast, a model of reality must have a direct and strong relationship to
the world. It must obey the rules of physics and of logic. The absence of such a
relationship renders it meaningless. A flight simulator is not much good in a
world without aeroplanes or if it ignores the laws of nature. A technical
analysis program is useless without a stock exchange or if its mathematically
erroneous.
Yet, the two concepts are often confused because they are both mediated by and
reside on computers. The computer is a self-contained (though not closed)
Universe. It incorporates the hardware, the data and the instructions for the
manipulation of the data (software). It is, therefore, by definition, a virtual
reality. It is versatile and can correlate its reality with the world outside.
But it can also refrain from doing so. This is the ominous "what if" in
artificial intelligence (AI). What if a computer were to refuse to correlate its
internal (virtual) reality with the reality of its makers? What if it were to
impose its own reality on us and make it the privileged one?
In the visually tantalizing movie, "The Matrix", a breed of AI computers takes
over the world. It harvests human embryos in laboratories called "fields". It
then feeds them through grim looking tubes and keeps them immersed in gelatinous
liquid in cocoons. This new "machine species" derives its energy needs from the
electricity produced by the billions of human bodies thus preserved. A
sophisticated, all-pervasive, computer program called "The Matrix" generates a
"world" inhabited by the consciousness of the unfortunate human batteries.
Ensconced in their shells, they see themselves walking, talking, working and
making love. This is a tangible and olfactory phantasm masterfully created by
the Matrix. Its computing power is mind boggling. It generates the minutest
details and reams of data in a spectacularly successful effort to maintain the
illusion.
A group of human miscreants succeeds to learn the secret of the Matrix. They
form an underground and live aboard a ship, loosely communicating with a halcyon
city called "Zion", the last bastion of resistance. In one of the scenes, Cypher,
one of the rebels defects. Over a glass of (illusory) rubicund wine and
(spectral) juicy steak, he poses the main dilemma of the movie. Is it better to
live happily in a perfectly detailed delusion - or to survive unhappily but free
of its hold?
The Matrix controls the minds of all the humans in the world. It is a bridge
between them, they inter-connected through it. It makes them share the same
sights, smells and textures. They remember. They compete. They make decisions.
The Matrix is sufficiently complex to allow for this apparent lack of
determinism and ubiquity of free will. The root question is: is there any
difference between making decisions and feeling certain of making them (not
having made them)?
|
|
3. "That is because you are seeing for the first time."
What
is he
seeing? How is he seeing? These questions are often asked when referring to
philosophy. Philosophy is based on questioning and searching for truths. In
Matrix, the search and questions were for the truth about our own existence.
We
see that we are here on earth. We feel things and know things, but why? Is it
because we are told to believe these things? The whole movie symbolized a path
of life which most of us have come across once or twice. This path is to
answers. Neo, the main character, is our guide through this movie. He drags us
through his thoughts and doubts which have been in all our minds. As a child
did
you ever think that your life was just a dream? One day you would wake up and
you would be in a crib. You wouldn't remember anything. This movie portrays
the
minds and thoughts of anyone who has ever wondered or was intrigued. What is
the
matrix? Well it can be perceived as anything one wants. The matrix is the
artificial mind. It is the blank slate in which we can program what we want.
The
world as we know it now is just a program. The movie portrays the mind as a
white room. There are no walls, no furniture, just space. The matrix installs
the ideas, emotions, and sense that we think are real. Yet as we have matured,
our minds have been taught to believe that we are in a reality. What is real?
How can someone tell you it is real? Someone can call a color pink but what is
pink? To me I may see red, but I am told to think pink. Just as Shakespeare
wrote, "A rose is a rose by any other name it will still smell as
sweet." Philosophy is integrated well in this movie. It is not hidden, it
is relevant. The names of the characters in themselves mean a great deal.
Thomas
Anderson, a computer hacker, becomes the chosen one. He has been picked by
Morpheus. Thomas Anderson doubts everything. He is referred to as the biblical
character "doubting Thomas". His name is change to Neo after he is
chosen. This is his "real" name. Neo, which means new or change,
symbolizes the need to find the truth. Once Neo believed, he found himself
like
a Christ-like figure. He had to face a decision to die for all. He was chosen
to
free us, who are slaves to the material, dream world. This is similar to
Christ
dying for us. Morpheus, who is the guide to the "truth", is considered
the biblical figure John the Baptist. He is searching for the chosen one and
is
relying on his faith to deliver him. John the Baptist prayed all his life to
find the Messiah. Finally he came just as Neo had. Trinity, who is a follower
of
Morpheus, symbolizes the Holy Spirit. The combination of all three strengths
into one person. She is able to incorporate herself into Neo when he is on his
death bed. She is the breath of life. These biblical references opened the
door
to many other philosophies. Throughout the whole movie, Descartes' and Locke's
ideas were being introduced and often used. Although I had previously stated
that Neo symbolized, Christ, he also had symbolized Descartes himself. "I
think therefore I am" that was the only thing Descartes was ever certain
of. He questioned everything and anything. The movie the Matrix stressed the
use
of machines as the program of motion for humans. Descartes saw that all
motions
were mechanical processes, but the soul can not be controlled.
|
