In Descartes Meditations, he questioned and created something known as universal doubt, the argument for our existence, and the argument that the mind is more certainly known than the body. He mainly questioned the world outside of our body as well as the body itself. This thought provokes the notion that our own mind is more powerful and real than our body. If there is a deceiver than we are automatically means that the fact we are being deceived, means we exist.
In the Matrix, intelligent machines take over the world and enslave all humans. The machines realize that the humans generate never ending power and capture them and keep them in pods. The human’s in the pods are fed a virtual reality program called “The Matrix” into their brains that give them the experience of a human being in 1999.
Neo, a man prophesied to save the world and take control over the matrix, is released by fellow humans who are not captured and living in the pods. He is taken from the “dream reality” and the memory of his life he once had is shattered and he is renewed with a new sense of clarity. He then goes on to fight the Matrix and release human existence from the grips of the machines.
The Matrix and Descartes' ideas match up to explain the idea that this life we are living could easily not be what it seems to be. The ideas of what we have known all of our life not existing is detrimental to our brain capacity. The characters in the movie, exist with in their own world, so each pod person legitimately exists, their thoughts and ideas separate from their bodies. This movie creates a theoretical world where Descartes ideas exist and are reality. The real question The Matrix brings up is the Matrix a possibility for our civilization and could this altered reality be in motion right now? The perceptions The Matrix creates motions viewers to question if the body they perceive to be in actually exists, which is what makes this movie so mystifying and questionable to the existence of the life we know. Many of the questions about reality were addressed within the rules of the matrix making the false reality one that is malleable, this allows the viewer to assess the world they know with in themselves and on the outside.
I think that though Descartes and other philosophers find such interest in questioning what is true and what is not, it's interesting that people would obsess over this idea which yields no result. Since these ideas are impossible to test and there doesn't seem to have been a "Neo" to pull us outside of the existence we know, there's a futility in the very pursuit of this question. I wonder if trying to question existence is more or less noble than simply accepting what we perceive to be true. It's incredibly likely that there is no 'truth' which is possibly the only answer that could be arrived at if were to find our consciousness to be a farce.
ReplyDeleteThe Matrix was always interesting to me in relation to Descartes because the existence of the masses living within the Matrix were not technically false. They did exist, but not within the reality that they assumed. Those living in the pods are neither alive or dead, but somewhere in-between. It added an interesting flavor to the ideas that Descartes brought forth.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Heather; "They did exist, but not within the reality that they assumed." I think it might have been maddening for Descartes to see the Matrix for himself. I think it's totally legitimate to think that the Matrix could be a possibility for our civlization. Our fascination with technology is definitely a potential problem for us in the future. I thought it was interested when Swilley mentioned "It's interesting that people would obsess over this idea which yields no result." Because it reminds me of The Prestige when Hugh Jackman's character is obsessed with finding out the trick. What is it about our brains that becomes unable to be turned off by a certain idea? What makes us so intrigued about it? I wonder if Descartes was so wrapped up in himself and his own ideas that he couldn't see a way out. I'm curious to think of what his thoughts would have been if he had been able to pull away a little bit, and look at everything from afar at a different angle.
ReplyDelete