Knock, knock.
What about the Matrix trilogy that pulls in the crowds worldwide?
Mega-heartthrob Keanu Reeves in shades, flying like Superman?
Was it the artfully-choreographed butt-kicking, bullet-dodging action?
Or, jaw-dropping Monica Bellucci dressed in latex outfits?
Maybe, it’s all of the above. But there are also some not-so-veiled philosophical themes behind the movies.
Unfortunately I can’t tell you what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
Although the Matrix is no evangelistic tract, here is one of my favorite Matrix themes that seem to be played out rather prominently .
“There Is No Spoon”
What is the Matrix? It’s a programmed, virtual-reality construct designed to keep human beings docile while their bodies were confined in “battery cells” that fed the Machines with energy .
These poor souls have the sensory experience that they eat, work, play and fall in love but in reality, they are enslaved and deceived .
What a grim scenario! It’s only a step away from asking the uncomfortable question:
How do I know what I know is real is real?
Morpheus , the John-the-Baptist-like character, defined reality as “what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see”?
Is the Real “simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain?” If perception is reality, does a falling tree in the jungle make a sound if nobody is around to hear it? (Philosopher Berkeley would say, “Yes, God is there to perceive it so it’s real”.)
But who would ever deny that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west unless a pesky astronomer called Copernicus told us that it is the earth that revolves around the sun?
Philosophers like Plato and Descartes realized long ago that we could easily be deceived by our sensory perceptions. Descartes began his quest for certainty by doubting everything that can be doubted. Then he realized in order to doubt, he must be a thinking being that exists . This gave rise to the famous air-conditioner ad: “I think therefore I am”.
It was the realization that there is no spoon in the illusory Matrix which enabled Neo to perform superhuman feats. The hacker in him could bend its program rules and create his own ‘reality’. Interestingly, it was an insight from the Theravada Buddhist boy-monk.
Looking at it more positively, The Matrix reminds us that life is more than what we can see or touch or feel. It's a critique on naturalistic reductionism
What about the Matrix trilogy that pulls in the crowds worldwide?
Mega-heartthrob Keanu Reeves in shades, flying like Superman?
Was it the artfully-choreographed butt-kicking, bullet-dodging action?
Or, jaw-dropping Monica Bellucci dressed in latex outfits?
Maybe, it’s all of the above. But there are also some not-so-veiled philosophical themes behind the movies.
Unfortunately I can’t tell you what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
Although the Matrix is no evangelistic tract, here is one of my favorite Matrix themes that seem to be played out rather prominently .
“There Is No Spoon”
What is the Matrix? It’s a programmed, virtual-reality construct designed to keep human beings docile while their bodies were confined in “battery cells” that fed the Machines with energy .
These poor souls have the sensory experience that they eat, work, play and fall in love but in reality, they are enslaved and deceived .
What a grim scenario! It’s only a step away from asking the uncomfortable question:
How do I know what I know is real is real?
Morpheus , the John-the-Baptist-like character, defined reality as “what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see”?
Is the Real “simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain?” If perception is reality, does a falling tree in the jungle make a sound if nobody is around to hear it? (Philosopher Berkeley would say, “Yes, God is there to perceive it so it’s real”.)
But who would ever deny that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west unless a pesky astronomer called Copernicus told us that it is the earth that revolves around the sun?
Philosophers like Plato and Descartes realized long ago that we could easily be deceived by our sensory perceptions. Descartes began his quest for certainty by doubting everything that can be doubted. Then he realized in order to doubt, he must be a thinking being that exists . This gave rise to the famous air-conditioner ad: “I think therefore I am”.
It was the realization that there is no spoon in the illusory Matrix which enabled Neo to perform superhuman feats. The hacker in him could bend its program rules and create his own ‘reality’. Interestingly, it was an insight from the Theravada Buddhist boy-monk.
Looking at it more positively, The Matrix reminds us that life is more than what we can see or touch or feel. It's a critique on naturalistic reductionism
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