This blog post delves deeply into the meaning of virtual and real worlds, free will, and authentic life through the film ‘The Matrix’.
The worldview of the movie ‘The Matrix’ is truly fascinating. Starting with the idea of creating artificial intelligence (AI) that can perform creative computations on its own, rather than just executing pre-programmed instructions, the film’s backdrop is a world where machine civilization has advanced to the point of waging war against humanity, seizing control of Earth, and ultimately reaching a stage where machines dominate humans. Within this virtual reality, humans live unaware of what truth is, existing solely in a world made of signal stimuli. While living in oblivion of reality, Morpheus arrives and presents you with a red pill (reality) and a blue pill (virtual reality). What would you choose?
Before deciding, I believe we need to make an assumption. You cannot know what the real world you’ll return to after taking the red pill is like before taking it, and it might not necessarily be like the reality depicted in The Matrix. Because in the Matrix’s reality itself, the machine civilization controls humans as an energy source, and the unconstrained humans wage a dark war against the machines, using the city of ‘Zion’ as their base. If, before choosing, one knew that the only reality was a world dominated by machines where humans are hunted and forced to flee, who would willingly take the red pill and return to that world? I believe that, aside from a select few like Neo who are chosen and driven by a sense of mission, most would not willingly take such a risk. Instead, they would settle for the fabricated sensations within the virtual world, much like Cypher. Therefore, we must assume that the reality after taking the red pill is unknown before taking it.
If I were forced to make this unavoidable choice, I would take the red pill, escape the virtual world, and emerge into the ‘true’ world. The virtual world is, literally, a world created virtually. Whether it was made by humans or by the machines that rule the world, it is a fabricated world. It is an arbitrary space where developers have created a world that cannot exist in the current reality, either making it resemble reality or creating something entirely different. Staying within that world can be compared to never waking from a dream, but instead continuing to dream endlessly. In a virtual reality like the Matrix, within sweet stimulation, truth remains unknown. One’s body and mind are controlled solely by external factors, independent of one’s own will. This control occurs through senses transformed into electrical signals, like brainwaves.
I believe the reason humans could distinguish themselves from other animals and plants to form humanity is precisely because humans possess free will and engage in creative thinking. I believe this civilization was built through the continuous progression of each individual’s unique thought processes and the choices and decisions made with free will. We freely think every moment and issue commands and perform actions according to our own will. This is precisely why humans exist in the real world. But virtual reality cannot possess such free will. The thoughts and senses of each individual connected to virtual reality are controlled, and their actions are determined by pre-programmed algorithms. Even if they perceive themselves as thinking and acting freely within that virtual world, that very perception itself has already been controlled multiple times by external factors (the control program within the virtual reality). If one exists only within such a virtual reality, can they truly be called human? Agent Smith in the film directly refers to the Matrix world as a zoo. What, then, should we call the virtual world users living within such a zoo? Can we truly call them human?
I believe a completely perfect virtual reality does not exist. Unexpected, sudden variables prevent perfect control, and because we cannot know when or where these variables will arise, constant surveillance is always required. And those watchers eliminate disruptive elements to maintain the virtual world’s systematized order. This is how Agent Smith in the Matrix world freely transfers his body into arbitrary entities within the virtual reality. Now, consider the person into whom Agent Smith entered due to an unexpected variable. This person is precisely the ordinary individual who took the blue pill and desires only to live within the virtual world. Within this controlled system, this person would live believing their life in the virtual reality was natural. Yet, entirely against their will, they are sacrificed to maintain the entire system. And they don’t even have a moment to realize they are being sacrificed. Furthermore, Agent Smith confirms that there is no such thing as a perfect virtual world. The first Matrix world attempted was designed solely as a world for all humans, where everyone would live happily without suffering. But that virtual world program was rejected, and every human who participated in it died. This implies that a world can’t exist if it only gives humans pleasure. Therefore, the virtual world rebuilt afterward would have added negative emotions like pain and sorrow alongside pleasure. It’s not a world that only gives joy and pleasure. It’s similar to reality.
Another aspect to consider regarding virtual reality’s impact on our lives is its potential for innovation across various fields like education, therapy, and training as the technology advances. Just as modern aircraft flight simulators allow for indirect practice of piloting in situations similar to real ones, virtual reality can enhance people’s abilities by providing experiences difficult to access in reality. However, we must remember that virtual reality cannot replace reality. Virtual reality is ultimately only an auxiliary tool; it cannot completely substitute for human existence and experience.
Some might think that experiencing virtual reality could provide new stimuli not encountered in reality, thereby bringing enjoyment. But this statement requires a premise: the premise that one can return to reality. Experiences unique to the virtual world, when compared to the real world, are certainly worth recommending and encouraging. For example, modern aircraft flight simulators allow for indirect practice of piloting in situations similar to the real thing. But the story changes when one lives in that virtual world, inhabits it, yet lacks even the awareness that they are living in a virtual world. What meaning could such indirect experiences gained in that virtual reality possibly hold? What meaning can there be in living solely within that world, relying on information whose truthfulness, gained in an incomplete world, is uncertain? Seeking to live in a world where there is no guarantee of lasting joy and happiness, within a system divorced from essence, is nothing but a foolish escape.
I believe human life is essence itself. Essence is not the visible, common phenomena, but the unchanging, inherent nature. Living within the Matrix world, ignoring and forgetting the human reality beyond it, choosing the virtual created by sensory perceptions given as electrical signals, is abandoning the reality that is the very foundation of ‘my’ existence. Therefore, choosing the virtual world at the moment of choice is abandoning the very existence that creates the ‘me’ of now and expresses ‘me’.
The very question of choosing between virtual reality and actual reality might be perceived differently depending on the life circumstances of the person asked. The choice will vary with the environment. If one is sufficiently satisfied with their current life, even if that life were within a virtual reality, and if the program instilled the perception that life is sufficient, they would likely settle for that present life. If dissatisfied, the probability of choosing another life would be high. To put it tragically, it’s like suicide. Though even suicide doesn’t guarantee another life. The crucial point here is whether one knows, at that moment, the existence or absence of the essence of the real world—an essence distinctly different from virtual reality. If one knows that essence, their choice should be consistent with my argument above.
