In this blog post, we will consider the choice between virtuality and reality, truth and comfort through the movie The Matrix.
The world view of the movie “The Matrix” is very interesting. The movie imagines what would happen if artificial intelligence (AI) that calculates creatively instead of a computer program that only calculates what is fed to it, and the point at which a machine civilization develops and takes over the earth after a war with humanity and eventually machines control humans, is the background of this movie. In virtual reality, humans live in a world made up of only signal stimuli, without knowing what is real. While you are forgetting reality, Morpheus comes to you and offers you the red pill (reality) and the blue pill (virtual reality). What would you choose?
Before making a choice, I think you should first make an assumption. You cannot know what the real world will be like after taking the red pill, and that world does not necessarily have to be the same as the reality shown in the movie The Matrix. In The Matrix, a machine civilization controls humans as energy sources, and uncontrolled humans are waging a dark war against machines centered on the city of Zion. If you knew that the real world is a world dominated by machines and that humans are chased away by machines before making a choice, who would want to take the red pill and return to that world? Except for a few people like Neo who are chosen and are filled with a sense of duty, I think that they would not take such a risk and would settle for the comfort of the virtual world like Cypher. Therefore, we must assume that the real world after taking the red pill is something that cannot be known until after taking it.
If I have to make such an unavoidable choice, I will take the red pill and come out of the virtual world into the real world. The virtual world is a virtual world in itself. Whether it is created by humans or machines, it is just a world that has been created. It is an arbitrary space where developers create a world that is similar to or completely different from reality. Staying in it is like continuing to dream without waking up. In virtual reality like the Matrix, the body and mind are controlled by external factors regardless of one’s will, in the midst of sweet stimulation, without knowing the truth. And it is through sensations that are converted into electrical signals like brain waves.
I believe that the reason humans are different from other animals and plants is because of free will and a creative mindset. Civilization has developed through the continuous making of choices and decisions based on each individual’s unique mindset and free will. We think freely and command and act according to our own will every moment. This is the reason why humans exist in the real world. However, in virtual reality, such free will cannot exist. The thoughts and senses of humans connected to virtual reality are controlled, and their actions are determined by algorithms that have already been coded. Even if a person thinks and acts freely in a virtual world, that perception itself has already been controlled many times by external factors (the virtual reality control program). If we only exist in such a virtual reality, can we really be called human? Agent Smith in the movie also describes the world of the Matrix as a “zoo.” What would we call the users of the virtual world living in such a zoo? Can they be called human?
I don’t think there is a perfect virtual reality. Since unexpected variables can occur, complete control is impossible, and since we don’t know when and where those variables will occur, we need someone to monitor them at all times. Those monitors eliminate factors that cause trouble in order to maintain the systematic system of the virtual world. Just as Agent Smith in the Matrix world can freely move his body as an arbitrary entity in virtual reality. Let’s consider a person who has entered Agent Smith’s body due to a sudden change. This person is a typical person who wants to take a blue pill and enjoy life in the virtual world. In a controlled system, this person will live as if his life in virtual reality is natural. However, he is sacrificed to maintain the entire system, regardless of his will. Even before he realizes that he is being sacrificed. And Agent Smith’s words confirm that there is no perfect virtual world. The Matrix world that was first attempted was designed to make all humans live happily without suffering, but the virtual world was not accepted, and all humans who participated in it died. This suggests that a world in which only pleasure is given to humans cannot exist. Therefore, in the reconstructed virtual world, negative emotions such as pain and sadness will be added to pleasure. The virtual world is not a world that only provides joy and pleasure. It is similar to reality.
Some may think that they can get pleasure from new stimuli that cannot be found in reality in virtual reality. However, this claim requires a premise. This is on the premise that we can return to reality. It is, of course, necessary to recommend and encourage experiences that can only be had in the virtual world compared to the real world. For example, modern aircraft driving simulations allow pilots to practice flying in a situation similar to the real world. However, the story is different when you live in the virtual world and don’t even realize that you are living in it. What is the point of such an indirect experience in virtual reality? If we live only in that world, what is the point of living with information that we don’t know whether it is true or not in an incomplete world? Trying to live in a world where there is no guarantee that we will be happy and joyful in a system that is detached from the essence is just a foolish escape.
I believe that human life is the essence itself. Essence is not a visible phenomenon but an unchanging inherent quality. In the Matrix world, choosing the virtual world created by sensory perception given by electrical signals, ignoring the human reality, is to abandon the reality that is the foundation of “I” existence. Therefore, choosing the virtual world at the moment of choice is to give up the very existence that creates the “I” of the present and expresses the “I”.
The question of choosing between virtual reality and real reality can be perceived differently depending on the circumstances of the person being asked the question. The choice will vary depending on the circumstances. If you are satisfied with your current life, even if it is a life in virtual reality, you will want to settle for that life if you are told by the program that it is sufficient. However, if they are dissatisfied, they are likely to choose another life. Tragically, it is like committing suicide. It is not clear whether committing suicide will lead to another life. The important point here is whether they know at the time whether there is an essence of the real world that is clearly distinguished from virtual reality. If they know that essence, their choice should be consistent with my argument mentioned above.
