(7 minute read)
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Back in the early years of teaching at university I developed a course based on The Matrix movie trilogy. Science, Religion and Philosophy in the Matrix was an honors course. It explored theories such as “the meaning of knowledge, reality, consciousness, freedom,” and “fate.” The course delved into concepts like good, evil, faith, enlightenment, and the very meaning of existence. The Matrix movie was used as a springboard for discussions.
As explained to the students on the first day of class, the course provided a safe space for self-exploration. I taught in three institutions of higher learning, all liberal arts schools. By the way, “knowing thyself” has always been the cornerstone practice of liberal arts institutions for centuries. This class was created to provide an opportunity for students to learn how to do just that.
Because knowledge is freedom and freedom is knowing yourself.
Knowing yourself involves:
- Learning how our minds are developed
- How and why we think the way that we do
- Exploring our strengths and weaknesses
- How to make better decisions
- How to use reason first and emotion second in the decision making process
Of course the common criticism of all this is that it “sounds like some form of liberal indoctrination.” If I may, let me respond with this …What bullshit!
Research indicates that students maintained their same core beliefs they had before their college studies. Their beliefs only shifted slightly to the left or right depending on their worldview. Interacting with peers who had contrary views inside and outside the classroom students learned to tolerate other worldviews. The indoctrination criticism is based on bullshit and has been debunked time and time again.
I do recognize the argument that the high cost of tuition is a concern. Does it justify having a class where students spend time watching movie clips and engaging in robust discussion. Believe me I’ve heard every type of criticism.
The answer to that question doesn’t satisfy everyone, especially those that have already made up their minds. The students attending that class and others like it learn to do what? Learn critical thinking skills and exercise tolerance of other people’s worldviews? My …what devils we educators are!
Does taking a college course on the Matrix Trilogy make someone a better accountant? No, but it does have the mechanisms to teach students how to be better people.
Over the years students who experienced the class never conveyed that their time spent there was wasted. On the contrary. Even anonymous end-of-the-semester student surveys indicated otherwise.
To Be, Or Not To Be …A Battery
At the time I developed the Science, Religion, and Philosophy course American culture was steeped in The Matrix. Most people were aware of the film whether they saw it or not. Ninety percent of the students taking the course had seen the first movie at least once.
Over time that began to change, despite the growth of the franchise that created two more sequels. Fifteen years later the number had dropped to about 30% of the students. But given the current climate and questions about Artificial Intelligence (AI), the main plot to The Matrix, is rather relevant.
The premise of the movie is that mankind developed AI very successfully. So successful it led to AI replicating itself. AI created another class of “machines” intended to work for humanity. However, something goes horribly wrong and a war breaks out between machine and man. Mankind loses and now human beings exist solely for the machines as “an energy source.”
Here is a primer of the movies plot to help fill in the blanks if you are unaware. One of the main themes found in The Matrix is the question what is real and what is not.
This is where the link above might help. Neo is unaware that he has been living in a computer simulation. Meanwhile, his body, and others, lay in a suspended state of living-cryogenics. While they lay in suspended animation the AI machines drain energy from their physical form.
Suspending disbelief helps here, so let’s put aside the laws of science that make this a rather impossible situation. Neo is then given the option to live in the real world or continue in his deep sleep.
In one of the most iconic scenes Neo is challenged by Morpheus to live an authentic life.
“You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe [stay in the simulation]. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes” [live an authentic life].
Morpheus, The Matrix, Warner Bros. Pictures, 1999
The Matrix is a sci-fi thriller and an example of modern day myth making. Threads of mythological, religious, philosophical, and classical literature themes are featured throughout. The movie, however, creates more questions than there are answers.
It is important to note that the directors had two main intentions in making the film. First, they aimed to create an entertaining film. They also wanted to create a work of art. This art reflected their own questions about what it is to be fully human.
There’s A Glitch In The Matrix
There is a semi-humorous, yet, telling scene in The Matrix. If you have already seen the movie you are more than familiar with the dialogue.
The Matrix, via IMBD[Neo sees a black cat walk by them, and then a similar black cat walk by them just like the first one]
Neo: Whoa. Déjà vu.
[Everyone freezes right in their tracks]
Trinity: What did you just say?
Neo: Nothing. Just had a little déjà vu.
Trinity: What did you see?
Cypher: What happened?
Neo: A black cat went past us, and then another that looked just like it.
Trinity: How much like it? Was it the same cat?
Neo: It might have been. I’m not sure.
Morpheus: [alarmed] Switch! Apoc!
Neo: What is it?
Trinity: A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.
For now, I will not explore the idea of living in a simulated, mediated, or surreal world. This concept is best left to thinkers like Descartes, Baudrillard, de Zengotita, and Bostrom. Whatever worldview you depend on there is the universal question humans have always tried to grapple with;
What happens when there is a “glitch,” when life throws you a curveball, a split fingered fastball, a slurve, or a “ghost” forkball?
I know for some it is sexy to think we are living in an alternate reality or simulation. For the sake of this exercise let us also leave aside the mystical Matrix explanation of déjà vu. No matter how the glitch happened the fact is there is an interruption in our daily lives. Something goes awry that causes us personal disappointment. It is not as bad as suffering but the reactions and emotions we feel are pretty damn close.
Disappointments are very personal. Life is full of many variables. Therefore, it is hard to come up with some concrete examples that might apply to everyone. One person’s disappointment might be some other’s relief.
For some, losing a job is a great disappointment. For another, losing a job is relief from a difficult situation. The tragedy of a marriage dissolving for one, might be a a way out for another. However, we can count on some common disappointments that likely affect us all from one degree to another.
- The death of a loved one
- The reveal of some hidden resentment by a close friend or family member
- A life-long belief system no longer works
- A business goes under and bankruptcy looms
- Medical results come back with some unwelcome news
What would your list look like? What disappointments have you experienced? What are future events that you recognize as possibly causing you disappointment? Unless you live a sheltered life, it is very likely that you have already come up against some harsh disappointments. Maybe you handled them rather well or fumbled a bit until you found a way through.
If so, you learned three things:
- Disappointments happen
- Disappointments change things
- Disappointments can be handled
Numbers one and two? Well, there is little we can do about them as disappointments often slowly creep or rush in all at once. Life becomes different. We learn to either accept what has happened. Or we take steps to try and get back to where we were before the disappointment.
Nonetheless, somehow, you handled it and you reading thus far into the post is extremely telling. You already posses some of the skills necessary to fixing the “glitch.”
