The Movie the Matrix Is Studied Attentively to Find to Discuss the Knowledge Issues In

Isabella Latim TOK essay 12ACO

KNOWLEDGE ISSUES IN THE MATRIX

The movie the matrix is studied attentively to find to discuss the knowledge issues in it, in philosophy and TOK lessons. The movie involves the manipulation of the mind, doubts on what to believe and what is real. This brings us to the theory of knowledge ways of knowing. The matrix is also based on the theory of a famous French philosopher, Rene Descartes. To show what is real he says “I think therefore I am” with this phrase he tries to fight the doubt away.

When Morpheus and Neo come out of the matrix, Morpheus gives Neo a lecture on reality saying, “what is real. How do you define real? If you are talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by you brain.” This type of question is similar to the questions that Descartes also faced he said “How do we know, for example, that we are awake now, rather than merely dreaming? How do we know that our thoughts are not being manipulated, and that our perceptions of ‘reality’ are accurate?” if we compare the two texts, we can see that they are very similar because they all ask the question of what reality is, and how you know. Both texts talk about using our senses to define reality. This is what we humans do. When we can touch something e.g. a chair and we can feel it that it is hard, we know that it is their.

Another knowledge issue raised in the matrix is when Neo is meeting Morpheus for the first time and he (Morpheus) presents to Neo two pills blue and red. When he takes the blue pill he will remain in the illusory world of the matrix while when he takes the red pill, he will exit to the real world. He then therefore had a decision to make in which one to pick. The decisions that you make are often to your way of life and they are also what you think is personally right and you do it with your own choice and yet knowing the consequences ahead, because no on is forcing you to do it.

When they were having breakfast mouse said “how did the machines know what tasty wheat tasted like. Huh? Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe what I think tasty wheat tasted like actually tasted like oatmeal or tuna fish. That makes you wonder about a lot of things.” At the beginning of what mouse says, you can tell that there is doubt and question. This shows that in human nature we do doubt. You start to question about how everything came about and why it is like this and not like that. At the ending of the quote mouse says “that makes you wonder about lots of things?” is this question used by the writer of the matrix used to make us wonder about the world around us in a deeper way, with more thinking involved.

In conclusion, the matrix is a movie that makes you not just see things around you the way that you always do. It makes you question the things that you think are real with doubt. But you eventually overcome the doubt with reason and faith to support your belief.