The Matrix Movie Analysis
EPISTEMOLOGY IN THE “MATRIX” TRILOGY
A seminal moment in the film “The Matrix” is where Neo chooses the red pill from Morpheous to see how deep the rabbit hole goals (rather than the other option of just returning to the matrix). Upon teaching Neo that his life had been part of the matrix, Morpheous said to him “Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?” The world around you could be something completely different from what you are currently perceiving it to be. This is known as a skeptical hypothesis and occurs when you are radically deceived about the world and yet your experience of the world …show more content…
Socrates then goes on to the second part of the allegory, where a single prisoner is freed and finds out what was making the shadows on the wall, but has no reference point to understand this new information as all he knows are the shadows. This is difficult period of accustomization that Neo also underwent after being unplugged as he tried to become adjusted to the way things truly were. Upon choosing the red pill, Morpheous and his team underwent a process to extract Neo from the Matrix. When he “woke up” he awoke in the harsh reality that machines were creating the shadows, creating the Matrix and everything that he previously perceived. Upon being brought aboard Nebudchadnezzar (Morpheous' ship), Neo was devestated that everything he previously knew was false but, like the prisoner would have to do once he was freed from the cave, would eventually overcome the idea of there being nothing but the Matrix and learn to embrace his new reality. This is best summed up by: "Most people, including ourselves, live in a world of relative ignorance. We are even comfortable with that ignorance, because it is all we know. When we first start facing truth, the process may be frightening, and many people run back to their old lives. But if you continue to seek truth, you will eventually be able to handle it better. In fact, you want more! It's true that many people around you now may think you are weird or even a danger to society, but you don't care. Once you've tasted the truth, you won't ever want to go back to being ignorant" –
A seminal moment in the film “The Matrix” is where Neo chooses the red pill from Morpheous to see how deep the rabbit hole goals (rather than the other option of just returning to the matrix). Upon teaching Neo that his life had been part of the matrix, Morpheous said to him “Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?” The world around you could be something completely different from what you are currently perceiving it to be. This is known as a skeptical hypothesis and occurs when you are radically deceived about the world and yet your experience of the world …show more content…
Socrates then goes on to the second part of the allegory, where a single prisoner is freed and finds out what was making the shadows on the wall, but has no reference point to understand this new information as all he knows are the shadows. This is difficult period of accustomization that Neo also underwent after being unplugged as he tried to become adjusted to the way things truly were. Upon choosing the red pill, Morpheous and his team underwent a process to extract Neo from the Matrix. When he “woke up” he awoke in the harsh reality that machines were creating the shadows, creating the Matrix and everything that he previously perceived. Upon being brought aboard Nebudchadnezzar (Morpheous' ship), Neo was devestated that everything he previously knew was false but, like the prisoner would have to do once he was freed from the cave, would eventually overcome the idea of there being nothing but the Matrix and learn to embrace his new reality. This is best summed up by: "Most people, including ourselves, live in a world of relative ignorance. We are even comfortable with that ignorance, because it is all we know. When we first start facing truth, the process may be frightening, and many people run back to their old lives. But if you continue to seek truth, you will eventually be able to handle it better. In fact, you want more! It's true that many people around you now may think you are weird or even a danger to society, but you don't care. Once you've tasted the truth, you won't ever want to go back to being ignorant" –