Whatever accusations The Matrix suffers from its critics as dinner party philosophy, for the majority of the population, it struck a genuine chord. Perhaps it’s a function of the growth of secularism – the absence of God in people’s lives doesn’t mean there is not a continued need for spiritualism. Combine that with a growing awareness of the “scientific” argument for creation still isn’t resolved (actually is a long way from being resolved) the rationalisation of the religious argument in philosophical terms (renaming God as “The Architect”, avoiding the argument of is God male/female by also employing “The Oracle”).
How deep does the rabbit hole go?
Without question, this film offers more than the standard Hollywood fare, it really does help show you just “how deep the rabbit-hole goes”.
The philosophical questions raised by the film include the skeptical worry that one’s experience may be illusory, and the moral question of whether it matters.
Is the Matrix Heaven?
Richard Hanley, author of the best-selling book The Metaphysics of Star Trek and a philosophy professor at the University of Delaware, has explored the intersection of philosophy and science fiction with his entertaining and thought-provoking piece “Never the Twain Shall Meet: Reflections on The First Matrix.” He argues that given a traditional Christian notion of an afterlife, Heaven turns out to be like The Matrix in which contact with other real human beings is eliminated.
Kevin Warwick is known internationally for his robotics research – he argues that by transforming ourselves into Cyborgs, it would allow us to “plug in” confident that we will fully benefit from all that such a future offers.
Blue Pill vs Red Pill?
Gnosticism and Buddhism also come into play. What we take to be reality is in fact a dream from which we ought best to wake up, after which enlightenment, be it spiritual or otherwise, can occur. The question is asking us whether reality, truth, is worth pursuing. The choice Neo makes between the red pill and the blue pill symbolises this question. The blue pill will leave us as we are, in a life consisting of habit, of things we believe we know. We are comfortable, we do not need truth to live. The blue pill symbolises commuting to work every day, or brushing your teeth. The red pill is an unknown quantity. We are told that it can help us to find the truth. We don’t know what that truth is, or even that the pill will help us to find it. The red pill symbolises risk, doubt and questioning. In order to answer the question, you must gamble your whole life and world on a reality you have never experienced.
The sacred feminine
Morpheus places the blue pill in his left hand and the red pill in his right hand. As in the Da Vinci code, left is a historical Christian symbol of feminism, whereas right is masculine. It’s an area we’d be interested in exploring further.
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