What's the Matrix?

I hear this term used alot on this site i wonder why it's used alot. The first time i ever heard of this before was when i heard about the movies but i never heard it used in real life before this.

The reason i'm asking is because when this term is used as an answer or provide some kind of explanation it kinda leaves me scratching my head because i don't understand what this actually means, i feel like i'm missing the point.

Does it refer to real life being something like the movies where we are all just batteries to a machine and we are just dreaming and reality is not real life (eh...wha...)? Is the law of physics being bent around us (time, space, etc)? Does the 'Matrix' have a singular meaning or does it mean something different per person?

I've always thought of life is something that you make of it and reality is how you personally perceive it based on your past experiences and future expectations.

What does it really mean?

you're part of the ats matrix

The matrix has a much deeper meaning then batteries and mahines my friend...At least the original did
WIKI Basically when someone says there was a glitch in the matrix or someone brings up the matrix they are talking about the reality that is perceived is flawed.

Also check out this site should clear up any other questions you have. Find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes

reply to post by Traydor

I think it's a condition of the mind where you wake up and see the matrix, the actor wakes up and begins to look at his/her thoughts and how they come into play, for example you are siting down and all the sudden you are thinking of something, how did you get that thought started ? or maybe it was ment to be on the line of destiny.
Now they are going so far to say that the matrix has a time line, outside the matrix is a changed perception on how we see things. I've been there, it will suck you dry of energy.

reply to post by TechVampyre


Opps, sorry i didn't mean to over simplify what i was asking (it just shows how little i understand about the term, lol) I was assuming that people would know what i meant. So basically what you're saying is that people use the word matrix instead of perception?

reply to post by Traydor


It is simply referring to the movies.

Of course then there is the problem about people's interpretation of the film. Everybody's opinion can be different.

General opionion would be that this life is not real. It is somehow fake. Whats behind it? Well that is where the main difference would be. Nobody can agree on that because nobody knows.

you are part of the matrix , therefore you are part of this fake world. that would be the main reason for using the term.

It would be much more interesting to ask what is reality rather than what is the matrix.

Life for your average person;

Alarm. Snooze button, Alarm. Snooze button, Alarm.
Out of bed. Wash. Eat. Clock in. Clock out. Eat. TV or exercise, Sleep,
Alarm Snooze repeat 4 your life.

(Left out sex and #ing because they are too exciting)

Anyway thats your reality summoned up.

So then I was reading how a gorilla in a zoo was getting bored. The keepers were thinking about giving it a TV or video games. Let that sink in for a minute. Maybe if we give it that it won't be bored. It wont want out of the cage it is trapped in.

Do you have a TV , video games, internet? Stops you getting bored?

You need to start looking inside to figure out how to escape from the cage. The answers are within. Its not an easy ride. Strap yourself in and get on with it.

(Some day the keeper will go back and see the gorilla is gone from the cage. He won't know how it escaped)

The Matrix is a system, Traydor. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.

Btw, do not look at the woman in red dress and listen to me.

reply to post by Traydor


For the most part yes in threads like this one posters are talking about a reality glitch "a glitch in the matrix". When ever i hear the matrix referred to on the boards it is almost always about a glitch in the perception of reality. I could type up a long rambling post about the deeper meanings of the film. But it would be better off for You if you check out the links i posted it will be a much cleaner read.

actually, I'm surprised no one has said this already...

the "matrix" is explained in very easy to understand terms by Morpheus in the very first movie. At one part he says something to the effect that, "The Matrix is the version of reality that has pulled over your eyes from the moment you're born." now to sort of paraphrase, "From the moment you're born you are being lied to on just about every subject... from what/who/when/where we came from, what the real power structures are in the world.., you know, the illusion that "the president" has the sole power to steer the country, that the newsmen (and women) wouldn't lie to us. That everything is just "hunky-dorey" (sorry for that poor expression).

I hope this helps clear things as up I found it a little frustrating to see the first replies sort of confuse things a bit more, imo.

PS. there was also mention by Morpheus that some people are helplessly/hopelessly connected to the "matrix" or "fake version of reality." They've gone beyond just accepting these lies but relying on them! Literally relying on the fake version of reality because the truth is too terrifying. Hurts the senses.

I guess it's not just a movie, it's an interpretation, since the matrix movie is made by people in the background who understand and want to show a side view.

It's about people rooted deep down in today's social class, the actor.

This song and it's meaning shows the matrix.

Originally posted by AllSeeingLie
actually, I'm surprised no one has said this already...

the "matrix" is explained in very easy to understand terms by Morpheus in the very first movie. At one part he says something to the effect that, "The Matrix is the version of reality that has pulled over your eyes from the moment you're born." now to sort of paraphrase, "From the moment you're born you are being lied to on just about every subject... from what/who/when/where we came from, what the real power structures are in the world.., you know, the illusion that "the president" has the sole power to steer the country, that the newsmen (and women) wouldn't lie to us. That everything is just "hunky-dorey" (sorry for that poor expression).

I hope this helps clear things as up I found it a little frustrating to see the first replies sort of confuse things a bit more, imo.

PS. there was also mention by Morpheus that some people are helplessly/hopelessly connected to the "matrix" or "fake version of reality." They've gone beyond just accepting these lies but relying on them! Literally relying on the fake version of reality because the truth is too terrifying. Hurts the senses.

edit on 8-2-2011 by AllSeeingLie because: left out a word + inserted the PS

What I wrote just two posts above you is actually a quote from Morpheus.

Here are some memorable quotes from the movie: The Matrix

Most people that replied to your question are correct. But I think the real question is this:

If you or I actually know that this reality is a fake construct, when do we wake up? How do we wake up and what do we do when we seperate ourselves from it?

Just because I know its fake does not mean I can change or control it.

You might find this article interesting and other articles on his site, it is about the real matrix:

www.stuartwilde.com...

reply to post by Aelfrede


Star for you i'm looking forward to reading this article!

I think people refer to the unwritten consensus when they mention the Matrix. Growing up you're a tabula rasa, a blank slate ready to be filled with all kinds of ideas. You can't think as a child about stuff you don't know yet so whenever a new concept enters the mind it gets added to this individual truth which grows to become the mind which governs all of your perception. In other words as a child there's no defense yet in the mind against certain negative/destructive concepts, other than something might just feel wrong. But most concepts are not introduced as being negative/destructive so the mind doesn't make any antibodies if you will, there is no vaccin.

So as a child you might have perceived everyone around you as having the same worth but since the concept of value isn't present in the mind yet this this kind of perceiving is unconscious, automatic, kind of like you don't realize yet. Then the concept of value is introduced and the mind starts applying this to it's surroundings, trying to determine what has value and what not and if so how much and is it worth trying to achieve this value in order to survive society better. Instead of keeping earthly values seperate from "spirit", ie. you may have a big wonderful house and this gives a certain kind of status or value but on the inside the person might be an asshole. But such a person might feel good about him/herself because it is succesful on the outside, while people who don't have such things might feel bad about themselves and in turn they would be motivated to become like the asshole to acquire earthly possessions.

At some point the mind is made up of so many concepts the "I" is no longer in control about how to perceive all these standalone concepts let alone trying to connect them. The self is then more or less out of control and the mind takes over dictating it's perceptions and actions, the self cannot begin to excert control over the mind since that is where it's power is and it has become something which acts out of it's own accord. That is when the Matrix has you.

The easy way out is going on a holiday and learn about new cultures. The old Matrix the mind is used to isn't there and instead it has to respond to a different Matrix, this can be an eyeopener in itself. The hard way is identifying, categorizing and analyzing all the different concepts and their origins plus underlying connections of a specific Matrix, starting from the first moment of people having thoughts.

Well I think the 'real' Matrix, is the whole mask the world has on it (Capitalism-made, obviously) that shows you a perfect world, while really the world behind, as Morpheus shows in the movie, it's falling appart.
I live in a country where we have a rough native american population (as well as an european one) and ALL the ads on TV are constantly showing, lovely blue-eyed kids, perfect families, perfect women, high-society people driving badarse cars, and such.
Guess that makes Matrix interpretation clear.



Cheers


P.S. If you're really into, I recommend you to view all the three movies (the last two are quite mainstream, but I think they still have some knowledge to share), focusing on the first one, and read reviews and books that talk about it, it turns to be a very serious and real concept as you get deeper and deeper into it.

I heard they are making 2 more films also.

the matrix film is the hindu teaching of maya, which coincides with jesus' teaching of the war between the spirit and the flesh.

reply to post by Traydor


Just take the red pill already. You know you wanna.