"Matrix" questions
Every time I see parts of the “Matrix” franchise, I find myself asking
more questions about its foundations. Having just watched the kick-off
flick again only recently, I have a new point or two to ponder.
Essentially, Tom Anderson (aka Neo) and Morpheus meet inside the matrix as Anderson distinguishes himself through his hacking skills. Or at a minimum, Neo's choice for extra curricular activity makes it easier for Morpheus to single him out for personal contact.
Suppose then that Neo wasn't “working” as a programmer with hacker tendencies. Would he still have the inherent skills or personality or strength of will or whatever to be “the One”? If in the matrix his “profession” and mental frame of reference revolved around serving food or pouring concrete, could Neo have “woken up” and learned to be the matrix-bending hero Zion needs?
Along the same lines, Neo's world prior to his rescue is nothing more than a computer-supplied dream (the matrix itself). And we learn later that as Neo, he does what he does as part of a reoccurring glitch in the matrix program – the Merovingian says he will outlive Neo has he did Neo's predecessors.
So here is my though or question:
If the “world” Neo grows up in is nothing more than the greatest simulation ever, and his choice of career/lifestyle in this machine-controlled environment helps distinguish him as “the One,” and presumably others have done the same … Why don't the machines simply craft a world that is not based on late 20th century earth? Why couldn't the matrix be viewed as the old west, the moon or a non-existent fantasy world divorced of a former reality that none of its occupants ever witnessed before?
Why does the matrix itself – time and again – generate the perfect scenario for the creation of its own demise?
Essentially, Tom Anderson (aka Neo) and Morpheus meet inside the matrix as Anderson distinguishes himself through his hacking skills. Or at a minimum, Neo's choice for extra curricular activity makes it easier for Morpheus to single him out for personal contact.
Suppose then that Neo wasn't “working” as a programmer with hacker tendencies. Would he still have the inherent skills or personality or strength of will or whatever to be “the One”? If in the matrix his “profession” and mental frame of reference revolved around serving food or pouring concrete, could Neo have “woken up” and learned to be the matrix-bending hero Zion needs?
Along the same lines, Neo's world prior to his rescue is nothing more than a computer-supplied dream (the matrix itself). And we learn later that as Neo, he does what he does as part of a reoccurring glitch in the matrix program – the Merovingian says he will outlive Neo has he did Neo's predecessors.
So here is my though or question:
If the “world” Neo grows up in is nothing more than the greatest simulation ever, and his choice of career/lifestyle in this machine-controlled environment helps distinguish him as “the One,” and presumably others have done the same … Why don't the machines simply craft a world that is not based on late 20th century earth? Why couldn't the matrix be viewed as the old west, the moon or a non-existent fantasy world divorced of a former reality that none of its occupants ever witnessed before?
Why does the matrix itself – time and again – generate the perfect scenario for the creation of its own demise?
My first guess is that maybe that is the society/economy that can support the largest population. If the ultimate goal is harvesting energy, then more humans yield more total output. However that can easily be countered with the concept of dividing up the human population into multiple low population instances, kind of like a clustered array of matrices, rather than one monolithic matrix. This may cause more initial overhead, but the potential benefits would far outweigh it. They could possibly design a system that would maintain itself indefinitely.
I think the point is, that the machines fall into the same fatal trap that mankind would. They are too proud to admit they have a fundamental problem with their initial design, and they don't want to spend the time or energy reevaluating things. QED, in some capacity, they are just as fallible and stupid as we are.
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Precisely the same reason that every super-villain spends an inordinately long amount of time explaining to the protagonist or super-hero why super-villain has felt the need to be so gosh-darned evil for so gosh-darned long, all while holding said protagonist hostage at gun point or laser point or something. It's a movie. Good must overcome evil and evil must have an inherent flaw or be unbelievably stupid. You pick.
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