The Truman show..

The movie the Truman show has allot of similarities to the Matrix as well as the allegory of the cave. The Truman show was based on the life of a man who was adopted by what i guess i could call a television cooperation. He has gone his entire life not knowing that he is really the star of a reality show which in deed is his everyday life he lives. At first when first watching i thought "how could someone live their life not knowing the truth?" But comparing to the Allegory of the cave the prisoners who lived in the cave didn't even know they were prisoners. The only life they knew was what they lived inside. That's like dropping myself on a island telling me to adapt to a culture I've never heard of or seen. Everything would be foreign to my virgin eyes. What got me in the movie"the Truman show" is when the wife was advertising products, from the beginning she seemed so fake and commercialized it made me mad because normal people don't act like that,and the director of the show said he choose that life for Truman so he could life a normal life. Having a perfect life married and kids is the American dream"supposedly" but its not realistic,we go through problems everyday that sometimes cant be avoided. After the woman he felt attraction toward him explained how he was part of a show and everything was fake he questioned if she was saying was true. I think after his fathers so called "death" then seeing him he knew in his heart that there was more to the life that he lived,that there was truth behind what his mother and wife said. Comparing it to the matrix, the way Neo's choice of the red pill let him know the truth; i look at the woman(Lauren) if I'm not mistaken she symbolizes the red pill. He chose her truth over what his wife as well as his friend tried to convince him to believe.

Fate,Freedom & foreknowledge

OK,getting straight to the "niddy griddy" of it all i think Chapter 8 In "The Matrix and Philosophy" was rather intriguing. Fate,Freedom, and Foreknowledge is what it was based on. Professor Smith said the simpler thing would be fate for the fact it is already planned out,which i completely agree. From what i have read fate goes back to the ancient Greeks. The oracle in the matrix compares to the ancient Greek Oracle at Delphi. They both have the gift of prophesying(determine fate). To a certain extent i think Neo's role in the film kind of shadows Alexander The Great,even though Neo wasnt on a mission to find the oracle,i think it has some type of ties to each other. What i found interesting was that the kings and generals wouldn't emerge in ample task unless they consult with the oracle of delphi first. That brings me to; how on the matrix all of the crew had to see the oracle after taking the red pill.
Such as fatalists,i believe that no matter what choices you make in life, whatever is meant for you is for you. Its so many different aspects to view it on because we live our lives as if it is free will but still live under rules and regulations. If broken we must deal with the consequences in the end. Sited on page91 in "The Matrix and Philosophy" The mythical greek king Oedipus was phrophesied that he would kill his father and marry his mother, just so he wouldnt go through the foretold future he left the city but still ened up fulfilling the prediction. "Fatalism is the belief that whatever happens is unavoidable." and in that situation it lived up to the definition.

Ontology:The real and unreal

OK, from what I could grasp from the much difficult chapter, Gracias and Stanford touch base on the metaphysics of the Matrix. Metaphysics is the principles of reality. Metaphysics disguises what is real and unreal through logical principle. “It is the view of the world that seeks to be accurate, consistent, and comprehensive and supported by sound “sited on page 56 of The Matrix and philosophy. In which it has other sciences that branch from that. Gracias and Stanford refer to the “source” and “ontology “of the matrix. It is the study of the nature of being, existence and where it all derives from. What Gracias and Stanford was trying to make of this is through source and ontology is how to distinguish the difference between real and unreal. Without the real world there would be no illusion world. In my opinion this is very much true because how could another existence be there without deriving from something that already exists. The topic alone is mind boggling; it’s as if you’re repeating information over and over to come up with facts that is in front of your face. For example, there is no future without a past, something had to come before where we are now to get where we are. Sited on page 62 in The matrix and philosophy, Gracias and Stanford state “it is only because there was a first man who knew the matrix for what it is and escaped, that other prisoners were able to escape from the matrix.” I view it the same way as the bible; we were not around at the time Jesus gave his life for us but the bible is our proof that it was real.

Possibility verse Probability

In Scene one of “the matrix and philosophy” there is a lot of talk about skepticism verse reality as well as possibility against probability. It is stated how skeptic raises eyebrows for the fact that knowledge requires certainty. How do we know what’s real and what’s a façade? We learn through what we experience everyday. Knowledge is built on what appears genuine to the eye. Scene one part three David Nixon argues how do we really know if we’re in the matrix or not. He touches base on “methodological skepticisms” of Descartes in which he indulges the possibility that a demon has manipulated all of his energy to deceive him. Descartes proposed doubt for the fact that there was possibility an evil demon could deceive him. In comparison Neo is viewed the same way. Neo has lived his prior life thinking that was reality. After Morpheus gives Neo the option of taking the red or blue pill, (which Neo takes the red pill) Morpheus explains to Neo “no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.” Truthfully I look at it as a merely hallucination. He has taken a pill from a man he does know and his mind is flipping back and forth from the real world and a fantasy land he has made in his mind. As stated in “the matrix and philosophy” Nixon is not asking whether his possible new beliefs are fictitious its more so on what reasons are there to believe that it’s real. In a nut shell whether in “reality” or in the matrix it’s all based on perception and how we view thing. If something seems believable enough to ones knowledge that is how we determine the difference between real and illusion.

Response to "The Matrix"

My views on the matrix as a whole is our so called “REALITY” is a virtual world called the matrix. They are living in the late 2000 years and computer intelligence has taken over. Morpheus and his crew members on the ship are dependent on machinery and computer programs to stay alive. In the matrix the team(Morpheus, Trinity, switch,Neo,etc)try to avoid the undestroyable agents. What I don’t understand is is if the matrix supposed to be a virtual reality why isn’t there a way to easily defeat the agents. In the movie smith is much stronger and faster than Neo. when smith has defeated Neo and kills him,trinity is able to get into his mind and he is reborn again. Its funny how the matrix has biblical ties to it. As in class today we spoke on how Neo is compared to Jesus as well as comparing Neo to Socrates. Jesus was chosen from God to save us and as written in”the Matrix and philosophy” Neo was chosen to break the grip of the matrix and free humanity with the truth. But what is the truth?Truthfully I think the Wachowskis brothers based it on more so on Jesus with a twist of their own science fiction. With Socrates he was different. He asked questions about his calling which mad e him popular “among the socially conscious youth” stated in The matrix and philosophy. I think both Neo and Socrates went by perception and illusion. What society created for them became a dimension in what they believed in making them think they where the ONE. Like professor Smith said Media creates MEDIA.

In response to "The Allegory of the Cave"

"In first person narrative" Growing up in Socrates cave my entire life caused me to be a complete introvert.Being confound to a cave was horrific.I myself as well as the other prisoners were unable to lead normal lives.We were chained down,totally immobile facing a wall in which shadows and echos was our source of reality. A twist to my situation was i was released from being a prisoner into society.It was like letting a wild animal out of a cage. My legs buckled as i tried walking for the very first time.Unfamiliar with my surroundings and unsure of where to go i aimlessly stagger til a kind bystander came to my aid.For the first time in my life i smelt fresh air,and saw the sun.The first initial view was blinding due to the fact I've only seen darkness.Farther and farther i walked towards the sunlight.The suns rays had the most invigorating warming feeling ever.As time past,being amongst the rest of the world i learned quick of what reality truly was. In a sense,living in a cave for numerous years was reality,the average human couldn't last a hour in the conditions i dealt wit.I returned to the cave to enlighten the other of what I've seen,to my surprise they shun me as if what i speak is factious. In my new found eyes i see the world for what it truly is,so i ask if what i was released to was corruption and evil? then What was i born into?