In this blog post, we explore the choice between virtual and real, truth and comfort, through the lens of the film ‘The Matrix’.
The worldview of ‘The Matrix’ is fascinating. It imagines what would happen if artificial intelligence (AI) capable of creative computation emerged, replacing computer programs that only perform programmed operations. The film’s backdrop is a world where machine civilization has advanced, waged war against humanity, taken over Earth, and ultimately reached a point where machines control humans. Within this virtual reality, humans live unaware of what truth is, existing solely in a world composed of sensory stimuli. While oblivious to reality, if Morpheus were to appear and offer you the red pill (reality) and the blue pill (virtual reality), what would you choose?
Before making a choice, one must first consider the premise. The reality you would return to after taking the red pill is unknown beforehand, and that world need not necessarily match the reality depicted in the Matrix. In the Matrix, reality is one where machine civilization controls humans as an energy source, and the uncontrolled humans wage a dark war against the machines centered around the city of Zion. If one knew before choosing that this real world is a machine-dominated realm where humans are hunted and forced to flee, who would willingly take the red pill to return there? Beyond the few chosen like Neo, burning with a sense of mission, most would likely avoid such danger and settle for the virtual world’s comfort like Cypher. Therefore, we must assume that the reality after taking the red pill is unknown until it is taken.
Faced with this unavoidable choice, I would take the red pill to escape the virtual world and emerge into the true world. The virtual world is, by its very nature, a fabricated one. Whether created by humans or machines, it remains an artificial construct. It is an arbitrary space where developers create worlds impossible in reality, making them resemble reality or be entirely different. Remaining within it is like continuing to dream without waking up. In virtual realities like The Matrix, one’s body and mind are controlled by external factors, independent of one’s will, within sweet stimuli, unaware of the truth. This control occurs through sensations converted into electrical signals, like brainwaves.
I believe what distinguishes humans from other animals and plants is precisely free will and creative thinking. Civilization has developed through the continuous choices and decisions made by each individual’s unique way of thinking and free will. We freely think, command, and act according to our own will every moment. This is why humans exist in the real world. But in virtual reality, such free will cannot exist. A human’s thoughts and senses while connected to virtual reality are controlled, and their actions are determined by pre-programmed algorithms. Even if one perceives themselves as thinking and acting freely within the virtual world, that very perception has already been controlled multiple times by external factors (the virtual reality’s control program). If one exists only within such a virtual reality, can they truly be called human? Agent Smith in the movie also describes the Matrix world as a ‘zoo’. What, then, should we call the users living within that virtual world? Can we truly call them human?
I believe a completely perfect virtual reality does not exist. Unexpected variables can occur, making perfect control impossible. Since we cannot predict when or where these variables will arise, a constant monitoring presence is always necessary. These monitors eliminate disruptive factors to maintain the virtual world’s systematized order. Much like Agent Smith in the Matrix world freely transfers his body into any random entity within the virtual reality. Now, consider a person who, due to an unexpected variable, finds Agent Smith inside their body. This person is an ordinary individual who took the blue pill, desiring to live within the virtual world. Within the controlled system, this person would live believing their life in the virtual reality was natural and inevitable. Yet, completely against their will, they would be sacrificed to maintain the entire system. And this would happen before they even realized they were being sacrificed. Agent Smith’s words also confirm that there is no such thing as a perfect virtual world. The first Matrix world was designed so all humans could live happily without pain, but that virtual world was rejected, and every human who participated in it died. This implies that a world offering only pleasure to humans cannot exist. Therefore, the virtual world rebuilt afterward would have added negative emotions like pain and sorrow alongside pleasure. The virtual world is not a realm that provides only joy and pleasure. Much like reality.
Some might think that in virtual reality, one can gain pleasure through new stimuli unavailable in the real world. But this argument requires a premise: the premise that one can return to reality. Of course, it is necessary to recommend and encourage experiences unique to the virtual world compared to the real world. For example, just as modern aircraft flight simulators allow practice in piloting similar to real situations. But the story changes when one lives within a virtual world without even recognizing they are living within it. What meaning could such indirect experiences in that virtual reality possibly hold? What significance is there in living solely within it, relying on information whose truth—whether derived from an incomplete world or not—remains unknown? 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 visible phenomena but an unchanging, inherent quality. To ignore human reality within the Matrix world and choose the virtual created by sensory perceptions given as electrical signals is to abandon the reality that is the very foundation of ‘my’ existence. Therefore, choosing the virtual world at the moment of decision is to abandon the very being that creates the ‘me’ of now and expresses ‘me’.
The very question of choosing between virtual reality and actual reality can be perceived differently depending on the life circumstances of the person asked. The choice will vary based on the environment. If one is sufficiently satisfied with their current life, even if that life exists within a virtual reality, and if the program has instilled the perception that this life is sufficient, they will likely settle for it. However, if dissatisfied, the probability of choosing another life is high. To put it tragically, like suicide. Though it’s uncertain whether suicide would actually lead to another life. The crucial point here is whether one knows at that moment whether the essence of the real world, distinctly separate from virtual reality, truly exists. If one knows that essence exists, then that choice should be consistent with my argument mentioned earlier.
