This is kind-of a stupid question, but is there anything wrong with the Matrix from

the movie, "The Matrix?" (self.AskScienceFiction)

submitted 2 years ago * by Elizabethan_Insulter

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So I've only watched the first Matrix movie, but the characters seem to go on the
basic assumption that the Matrix, the computer generated world, is inherantly
"bad". The entire idea of the robots melting down the dead to feed other human is
revolting, but if the characters never knew that, why should they have a problem
with the matrix? It's with an ideal world, where the human race is garanteed
continual existence and where you are still communicating with your fellow beings.
I don't get it. The matrix relies on the boundries of "reality", the only person
who fucks it up are people like neo. The mysteries of space, the oceans, the mind
can still exist.

Is there a reason why it's bad? Why must it be destroyed?

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[]Omegastar19 1175 points 2 years ago*

I agree with your general comments, but you make a mistake regarding the influence
of the rebel humans and 'the one'.

The freed humans and "the one" had all proven repeatedly to be proponents of
destruction. Six times before the matrix, both humanity and the machines were
brought to the edge of extinction due to the actions of the one.

This is not true. You are forgetting what the Architect told us at the end of the
second movie. 'The one' is not a force for humanity. 'The one' was actually created
by the machines themselves as a control-mechanism to fix the inherent flaw in the
current matrix. The inherent flaw is that a tiny percentage of humans reject the
matrix and free themselves. As the Architect says, these rebels 'constitute an
escalating probability for disaster' (they will eventually become numerous enough
to fuck shit up). The one was created by the machines as a way of controlling the
rebellion by resetting the matrix while the machines destroy the rebel stronghold.
The Architect himself says that "We have become exceedingly efficient at it". The
machines's army in the third matrix movie even has the exact same number as the
human population of Zion. Why not more? Because the machines have long since
figured out precisely how many units they need to achieve victory. Note also that
the entire real-world battle as portrayed in the 3rd movie has the machines
relentlessly pressing on and winning. Even the few setbacks that the machines
suffer are almost immediatly taken care off (First, when the first machine drill is
destroyed, a second drill immediatly appears. Second, when the EMP pulse is
employed, a new machine offensive begins soon after).

Hell, I even wonder if the machines themselves created the foundations for Zion.
You see, having all human rebels bunched up in one big city is VERY convenient if
the machines wanted to destroy all human rebels in one stroke.

Six times before the matrix, both humanity and the machines were brought to the
edge of extinction due to the actions of the one.

So, no, the machines have always held things perfectly in hand. The One is simply
another 'system of control' for the Machines. The Architect explains as much.
Off course, this leaves you with some important unanswered implications and
questions. To explain things best, Ill offer this question:

"Is the 'matrix cycle' depicted in the 3 movies any different from the previous 6
times when Zion was destroyed and the matrix was restarted?'

The answer is yes.

"In what way is this 'cycle' different?"

The answer to this question seems quite logical to me. The difference between this
cycle and all the other previous cycles is Smith. Agent Smith. It is quite clear
from the way that the machines are completely helpless to defend against Smith in
the 2nd and 3rd movies, that this is something they have never encountered before.

"If Agent Smith's actions in this cycle are different then in the previous 6
cycles, what caused this?"

Ok, now its gonna sound like Im making a very big leap here, but keep reading.

The Oracle did it.

How? She gave Neo a cookie in the first movie, and a
cookie especially is given a lot of attention in the
random scene. There is more to the cookie then meets
in fact altered Neo. But how can a cookie alter Neo.
another big leap, but bear with me.
candy in the second movie. The
first movie. This is not some
the eye. I believe the cookie
Ok, now Im going to make

Neo is not entirely human. Remember what I said earlier about 'the one' being
another system of control created by the machines? The Architect further said that
'previous incarnations of The One were made to identify with the entire human race
(so that they would be guilttripped into choosing to save the human race instead of
letting them die out when the Architect gives them the choice). The way the
Architect says this sounds as if the identity of 'the one' was never a mystery to
the machines - how else could they manipulate the one into identifying with the
human race if they didn't know who he/she was.

So how do the machines know who 'the one' is? Its simple. Modify him. Neo is not
entirely human. Neo is part machine. More so than any other human. There is more
proof for this theory. Remember the weird last scene of the 2nd movie where Neo is
suddenly able to short-circuit a squiddy in real life? Remember when he does this
on a much greater scale in the 3rd movie when he and trinity are heading to the
Machine City? This can be explained if Neo is partially machine, and would
therefore possibly possess the 'implants' needed to do what he did.

So, Neo is part-machine. If this is true, it is likely that the machines simply put
tracker's in Neo's body to track him in the matrix. Thus, the machines would always
have been aware where Neo was, and would have been able to influence him.

What does this have to do with the Oracle and the cookie? The Oracle knows that Neo
is The One, and she knows that The One is partly machine - she knows this because
she helped create this system of control in the first place. So what is the cookie?
It is a code-altering device. The cookie changed Neo's code in order to influence
him.

So what did it do specifically? It subconsciously taught Neo how to break Agent

Smith free. And it subconsciously inserted into Neo the instruction to actually
break Agent Smith free. And Neo does so - he breaks Smith free at the end of the
first movie, when he 'dives' into Smith. Note again, the clues that support this.
Everything in the Matrix is made up of code. By 'diving' into Smith's body, Neo is
infact 'entering' his code, thereby allowing him to change the code. Neo then
changes Agent Smith into the monster he becomes in the 2nd and 3rd movies. Note
that Neo himself is obviously not aware of what he is doing.

So now we have the Oracle creating the nigh-unstoppable virus-Smith who nearly
destroys both humanity and the machines! Why would the Oracle do this?

The answer is simple. The Oracle wants peace between Humanity and the Machines. But
as an isolated exile, she is powerless to influence the other Machines into
changing things. Hell, the Architect perfectly represents this - he clearly
dislikes the Oracle strongly.

So, having no chance of convincing the other Machines, the Oracle creates a
desperate gamble to end the vicious cycle once and for all. First, she created
Smith in order to threaten the Machines' very existence. Then, as the second part
of her gamble, she alters Neo once again, this time with a candy in the 2nd movie.
The candy is actually the piece of code that gives Neo the power to destroy Smith.

And thus, having put the Machines in a desperate situation, she now offers them the
way out - Neo. However, Neo is only willing to help if the Machines make peace with
Humanity. The Machines have no choice but to agree. Neo then destroys Smith (or
rather, Neo provides the means to destroy Smith - notice how Neo is at first
seemingly taken over by Smith, after which the Machines send a 'pulse' through
Neo's real body, after which Smith is destroyed. Neo, as heartless as it sounds,
was really nothing more than a tool used by the Oracle to obtain peace, and used by
the Machines to save themselves).

I will leave you with the final scene in the 3rd movie. The Oracle is sitting on a
bench in the park watching the sunrise. The Architect approaches and says "You
played a dangerous game".

She did. She nearly destroyed both Humanity and the Machines in a desperate Gamble
to end the vicious cycle of the Matrix. But she succeeded.

Edit: I hope someone reads this. I spend quite a lot of time writing this :P