Forget the feeble antics of the DVC and move-on to some heretical
reality-code, Bro...
Many educated, doctoral level thinkers like Massimo Pigliucci,
Jake Horsley et al., have been so impressed with the (largely
unintended) theological, epistemological and ontological
implication of the movie trilogy - Matrix - that a mini-industry
is forming: an impressive outpouring of thought and effort
expended on this once rather dry and arcane subject: "what is
real". The film has even become the basis of numerous
well-attended courses in the once-shunned Philosophy Departments
at major universities.
If L.Ron Hubbub and his minions can spawn a whole new religion
based on ridiculous, self-indulgent, 3rd-rate SciFi ramblings,
then the Matrix may yet end-up being the basis for the next
world-wide united-religious movement... I hear that the Vatican
(or at least Opus Dei) is already looking to relocate in El
Segundo ;-) ... and what shall we call it: Neoteny <dpi> ? (that's
dpi for double pun intended)
You can ditch the film's non-stop action, 'spent-round'
look-and-feel, superb f-X glitz, overworked symbolism, annoying
posturing, vague androgynous leather-jacketed romance, and the
hip-pop'n-Ncrowd-cachet, and even then there is still, underlying
it all: surprising profundity ... a rather deep rabbit hole, shall
we say, Alice?
Four literary offerings of note, may help the seeker-of-truth (IOW
the average-vo) obtain a less-foggy glimpse through the "looking
glass" ... and may be had at Amazon.com. EXPLORING THE MATRIX is
an anthology of eighteen contributions, mostly from writers
classified as "cyberpunk and science-fiction visionaries"... which
is not exactly an endorsement of expertise in ontology, but the
essays are insightful. THE MATRIX AND PHILOSOPHY: Welcome to the
Desert of the Real, by William Irwin (Editor) is better but more
erudite and a bit neocon. "Many people recognize The Matrix as a
retelling of "the greatest story ever told..." not to mention:
we're not sure that any Nazarite could dodge that much live ammo.
K J. Murtagh uses "Matrix " in his college philosophy course. In
his review he say of the Irwin book and the movie: "This book
provides me with an "in" that I can use in order to discuss very
important philosophical issues". It is often difficult to make the
material "come to life", especially when teaching a required
course. By using this book, it is possible to make the process
much more enjoyable for students who would otherwise be
disinterested. A few highlights:
Ch.1: Computers, Caves, and Oracles: Neo and Socrates- Compares
Plato's allegory of the cave to Neo's journey. An excellent
discussion of what it means to lead an examined life and seek the
truth. Excellent segue into the red pill/blue pill debate.
Ch.6: The Machine-Made Ghost: Or, The Philosophy of Mind, Matrix
Style- Discusses Artificial Intelligence and the nature of the
mind. The author argues against dualism and favors a materialistic
view. Leads to a discussion on whether or not it would be
theoretically possible for a Matrix to exist and the
presuppositions that are present in the movie with regard to the
nature of the mind.
Ch.8: Fate, Freedom, and Foreknowledge: A discussion of fate,
freedom, omniscience and determinism. Even if they escaped the
Matrix, would people really be free?
Ch.11: Happiness and Cypher's Choice: Is Ignorance Bliss?- My
favorite essay in the book. What do we make of Cypher's decision
to try to return to the Matrix? Is a decimated reality preferable
to an artificial world where you can "eat" a juicy steak and do
not have to worry about Sentinels trying to kill you? The author
says that it is, and his argument is very thought-provoking.
But two other collections of essays are even more interesting to
me: JOURNEY TO THE SOURCE: Decoding Matrix Trilogy, by Pradheep
Challiyil is one. And MATRIX WARRIOR - Being the One, by Jake
Horsley is probably the best of the lot.
Horsley's exegesis, as other reviewers have also noted, consists
of three derivative claims about work-a-day reality as set out in
Matrix - all of which turn up in almost every work on modern
ontology.
1. "Reality" can be identical to a kind of self-imposed prison
(i.e. pre-Neo in his office, neither happy or fulfilled)... less a
prison than a constraining web which has been woven out of our
encoded societal memes, pressures and expectations. Like the
big-birds say about the left coast, "you can check out but you can
never leave."
2. We are born as slaves, oftentimes staying-on as willing slaves
to this duplicity - partaking in a shared hallucination... at
least up until the time when the more rebellious dare to "take the
red pill"
3. Humanity is little more than a
"food/energy/information/entertainment/biodiversity source" for a
higher-order of intelligence, even if that higher order has been
recently evolved (in the past 5000 years) from the common man
himself (i.e. the all-souls-divinity).
Of course, when you add in the PKD-spawned material on the "real"
implications of VALIS and the fact that the higher-order of
intelligence may in fact have traveled here from another reality,
then things get very confusing as to whether divinity actually
exists in 3-space "in the flesh" as it were, or only in "spirit".
Given that Valis may have been manufactured, and that its
intelligence is mechanical but superior - then we have come full
circle to Deus ex Machina. Not that anyone believes in the
physical reality of Valis...<g>
IOW - when we look at all the many nuances and implications of the
Matrix film trilogy - a lot can be "read into it" which was once
the exclusive province of egg-heads with Hessian monikers. But if
you are so inclined (even professorially inclined) and desirous of
reaching a much broader audience than the Kant-stand-Heidegger
variety of resource - then, hey take a blue pill now, pocket the
red one, read more, and make up your mind before doing anything
rash ...
... after all, bro, tha' "Nebuchadnezza" is a pretty funky ride,
greatly in need of some Smith-like pimping-up, and shared
hallucinations aren't all that bad. Kinda like the "placebo
effect" ... i.e. who care if the pill is fake when the cure is
real.
Chapter listing of MATRIX WARRIOR: 'NOT JUST A MOVIE, IT'S AN
EXPERIENCE !'
If these are not provocative enough enticement, then why are you
still reading this?
(1) First Variable: LIVING IN A DREAM WORLD
Reality as a Snare: Postmodernist Twenty-First Century
Fragmentation
(2) We Are Not Amused: Rules for Beginners
(3) The Seven Deadly Virtues:
Primary Motivating Factors for Plugged-in Humans
(4) Automatons 'R' Us
(2) Second Variable: THERE IS NO SPOON
(5) Hologram Ethics: Reality as Game-Plan
(6) Rules of Empowerment: DIY Unplugging
(7) Sins Against the State: Eight Cardinal Virtues of the Matrix
Warrior
(8) The Vale of Soul-Making: Understanding the Matrix
(3) Third Variable: YOU THINK THAT'S AIR YOU'RE BREATHING ?
(9) Do You Believe in Fate ? The Sorcerer's Will to Freedom
(10) Life in the Matrix: Appropriate Responses to Illusory Stimuli
(11) You Are Not You: Life as Simulacra
This is probably the book I should have written, but with a little
more humor and attention to Yahaa-the-Horselover (the second
Baptist, so to speak)...
Yours unruly,
Harry Tuttle,
Eng.d'loi & Neoromancer
