In this blog post, we explore the difference between the virtual world and reality, delving deeply into what the real reality is and what the virtual world is through Neo’s choice.
“Red pill or blue pill?” This is the scene where Neo leaves behind the Matrix he’s lived in until now and steps out into the real world. While it’s the opening sequence in the four-part Matrix film series, it’s also a monumental turning point in Neo’s life. This moment of choice isn’t just about picking a pill; it’s a moment that questions the very essence of his existence and life. Is this world we believe to be reality truly real? Or is it merely an illusion? Watching Neo’s courageous choice, one wonders: Is it right to completely reject the world we’ve lived in until now and enter a new one? Is the real world truly superior enough to the virtual world to warrant such a choice?
The film posits the following background for the Matrix world’s emergence. First, the time period is approximately 200 years in the future. During this time, AI was invented, leading to the deployment of robots equipped with AI. However, influenced by AI, the robots began making their own decisions. Robots that defied human commands were expelled from the human world. To survive, the robots gathered, eventually establishing their own nation and rebelling against humanity. A war between robots and humans began. As the human side faced imminent defeat, humans resorted to a last-ditch measure: blocking the solar energy that powered the robots. Nuclear weapons and other means caused severe atmospheric pollution, rendering solar energy unusable. Yet, humanity still lost the war. The robots, searching for an alternative energy source, realize they can utilize energy like body heat emitted by humans and begin using humans as an energy source. They then force humans to live within the Matrix world.
Looking at the film’s proposed background for the Matrix world’s creation gives us hints about virtual worlds. A world free from the limitations of energy is precisely a virtual world. In the real world, to eat steak, you must raise a calf from infancy by feeding it grass, water, and supplements, then slaughter it, cut the meat from the carcass, and transport the meat to a restaurant where it is cooked over fire. Every single step in the process of eating steak consumes energy. However, in the virtual world, while the outward process of raising, slaughtering, and transporting the cow to the restaurant might appear identical to the real world, the energy expenditure occurring during this process arises solely from the electrical energy used by real-world servers to maintain this virtual world. This means that in the virtual world, none of the concerns we have in the real world—fearing melting glaciers, desperately trying to postpone a future of oil depletion, or frantically searching for alternative energy sources—are necessary.
Life in the virtual world is clearly appealing in its freedom from resource constraints and lack of material consumption. But can we then say that this virtual reality, where no material consumption occurs, is superior to reality? In a virtual world with infinite resources, or one where infinite resources can be assumed, human development could be limitless. Humanity could also exist almost eternally. Seeing how the Matrix’s machine world endured for ages, shrouded in dark clouds, it stands to reason that life could continue indefinitely in a world not covered by dark clouds and cooling down like Earth. Therefore, the most fundamental objectives of life—‘survival’ and ‘species preservation’—naturally follow through the virtual world.
This idea supporting the virtual world is also embedded in the Matrix films. Though portrayed as an antagonist, it is revealed through the character ‘Cypher’. Keep in mind that this antagonist role is merely a plot device for the Matrix films; it does not mean this idea is wrong. Cypher, the only advocate for the virtual world in the film, strikes a deal with Agent Smith and remarks that ignorance is bliss. He praises the virtual world, saying he knows he’s not really eating it, but the steak tastes too good. The taste of steak Cypher described could literally be steak, or it could be paragliding in Switzerland, or boarding a spaceship. In other words, the film also conveys that even things difficult to do in reality can be fully experienced in the virtual world. Neo’s choice isn’t the only correct one; the virtual world also possesses significant advantages.
Arguments supporting the virtual world may face counterarguments. Some might claim it’s wrong to turn away from the truth simply because virtual reality feels more comfortable than the real world. However, this is not a valid argument. For those living in virtual reality, that reality is their truth. This is a misunderstanding arising from confusing the ‘virtual’ in ‘virtual world’ with ‘false.’ Furthermore, the ‘truth’ invoked in such arguments is merely a product of the fallacy of comparing the two worlds solely by the yardstick of the real world itself, as if only the real world is true. To compare the values of two fundamentally different worlds, one must either belong to both worlds or compare them based on values independent of both.
Another counterargument might arise: that human actions in the virtual world are ultimately just programmed behavior dictated by machines, completely divorced from individual will. Is that truly the case? Consider this scenario: we are soldiers in a game world. Ahead, a person is shivering from cold and hunger. That location is unsafe, as it could be spotted by enemy patrols. But rescuing him might reveal the enemy’s supply lines. Suppose we decide whether to save him or not, prioritizing safety. Is this decision programmed? Does it go against our will? No. Decisions and choices made in a virtual world ultimately follow individual will; we cannot devalue that will simply because it occurs in a virtual realm.
Thus, there is no reason to underestimate the virtual world enough to completely reject the world we’ve lived in until now and readily enter a world we’ve never experienced. In the movie The Matrix, the virtual world was portrayed solely as something bad, but that is not actually the case. Perhaps that is what Neo is. Many people know that the virtual world, not reality, is better, and choose the Matrix. That’s why he, who is different from others, had to be chosen as the protagonist!
