Hack The Matrix

Some New and Some Old

I was posting on a message board this morning in response to someone asking a question about the scene where Bane/Smith cuts himself, so I thought I would just put my thoughts up on here as well. This is mostly old stuff but there is some new theory in there as well.


There is some signifigance in the scene where Bane/Smith cuts his hand. The obvious being now that Smith is in the "real" world he wants to feel pain, and other things that he never could have experienced. However, he cuts two slices in his hand, that also resemble the Roman numeral 2, and two has signifigance in the film. First of all back in the matrix Neo's first name was Thomas, which means twin or two, and also the audience is starting to see the similarities between Smith and Neo now that each one has copied part of himself onto he other, which would suggest that they are alike, or twins, we see the theme of two tying together quite nicely.

Also, if anyone has played Enter the Matrix then they would have seen that cut scene where Bane/Smith adds a third cut to his hand, this time at the top of the two pre-existing lines, which represents the mathematical symbol of PI. As we all know number theory and mathematics are a big influence in the matrix, PI itself occurring somewhere else in the film, when the Keymaker says they have exactly 314 seconds(3.14 the abbreviated form of PI). Anyway, Bane/Smith putting the symbol for PI on his hand may suggest that Smith, just like PI, is becoming infinite. As we know PI, in decimal form, has yet to repeate itself, thus making it infinite, just like Smith who is duplicating himself and will continue to until stopped, thus making him infinite.

Matrices or Matrixes?

I was just sitting around today, not that that is different from any other day really, and I was just doing the proverbial "surfing" of the world wide wow, sorry, I mean web, there was just an annoying AOL commercial on the TV. ANyway, I was reading an article on some random site when I came across a word that I had not seen before, so in my questioning nature I immediately set forth to Dictionary.com and looked up the word. So one thing led to another and suddenly I was transported back to my days in Algebra where I learned about what a matrix is. Of course I have forgotten the exact definition, so I went and looked it. I apologize for the completely irrelavant intro, but that's how the web goes.

Anyway, I just thought that it would be interesting to see why the Brothers Wachowski chose "the matrix" to be the name of the centeral focus and of course the title of their films. As we all know there is seemingly neverending amounts of symbolism and reasoning behind just about everything in these movies, so of course the name is going to be chosen for a reason, that just goes without saying. Some of the things I found were pretty interesting, and of course some of the things I found were pretty useless, but again, that's what you get with the web.

So here are the dictiionary defintions of the word "matrix", the ones that mean anything.

1. A situation or surrounding substance within which something else originates, develops, or is contained: “Freedom of expression is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every form of freedom” (Benjamin N. Cardozo).

This is of course just saying that a matrix is just some benign substance or thing in which something else takes place or happens. As we all know the matrix is the "neural interactive simulation" created to occupy the human's minds whilst the machines use us for batteries, or if you subscribe to the school of thought presented in the essays entitled "The System", which can be found at the Matrix Essays, then it is something different, but I will stay away from that for now. What was really interesting was the quote attached to it, as Cardozo states that a matrix is the embodiment of free will. The matrix in the films is obviously the polar oppositte to that since it is nothing but a means of control, just something interesting.


2. The womb.

When you see the fields of humans being grown they look much like a fetus looks while it resides in its mother's womb. The humans are even curled up in the fetal position and surrounded by a placenta like substance in the pods, where they grow and mature, just like a baby in a womb.


5. A mold or die.

The matrix is a program designed as a mold where we the machines put our minds so that everything turns out the same and they can continue to have dominion over us.


9. Computer Science. The network of intersections between input and output leads in a computer, functioning as an encoder or a decoder.

In terms of this defintion the matrix is the intersection between the human mind and the machines, it decodes our brain waves and electrical signals so that they can be read by a computer and then it decodes them as they go back into our brains.



The one avenue that I have not explored is the actual mathematic defintion of what a matrix is and how that correlates with the movies. Mainly because I couldn't find any ties from the definition, but there is more behind it than just the defintion so there is probably something there that I am missing. Anyways, this stuff isn't anything ground breaking, just some interesting reasoning behind the name of the movie and all, just some brain candy.

One of the best theories I've heard

You have got to read this three part essay over at Matrix Essays, it discusses another theory that explains the trilogy. It is extremely well written and something that you have to read, here is just a little taste of it.

Therefore, the System, which is the real Matrix, is actually an iterative, adaptive program engineered by our future selves to facilitate the emergence of a truly intelligent artificial entity that will have a belief in free will indistinguishable from our own, and will ultimately become aware of its own nature and its relationship to the world in which it was conceived.

It is entitled "The System" and was written by Michael, it comes in three parts, just scroll down to find the first two parts, and I strongly suggest that everyone takes the time to read through these and read through all the comments left as they add even more to the essays, bravo for Michael for writing this and Tom for putting in on his site.

Quick question about archives...

To anyon who is readiing this that has experience with blogs I have a query. My archives were spazzing out for a while but I was able to fix most it, however, all of the archives before this week are gone, and I went through the FAQ and have found nothing letting me know how to retrieve lost archives because they aren't showing up, so, if anyone knows what to do, please let me know, thanks so much.

Cast your vote!

I have put up a little poll over on the side of the site so you can cast your vote on your favorite episode of the Animatrix. Lets see what you guys all think!

The Animatrix Awards

After watching through the Animatrixa few more times I have decided to write a little something about some of my favorite "episodes". First though, I would like pick some favorites of mine in some different categories that I devised while watching the Animatrix.


Animation
I have to go with "A Detective Story" and "Final Flight of the Osiris". It goes without saying that the level of realism achieved in Osiris is unparalleled, especially when Thadius and Joanne(I am not sure this is her name but it is the closest thing I could come up with) are face to face in the very beginning during the katana fight scene, it is just ubelievable! The amount of skin that is shown is also quite astounding, for anyone who has ever tried doing CG Animation, you know how difficult it is to make skin and hair look real, well, they nailed it on the head in Osiris. Finally, "A Detective Story" really wasn't anything groundbreaking, I just loved the feel of it, especially the snow, the fact that it was done by the guys who made Cowboy Bebop, just an overall joy to watch. Now, I'm not saying that all the other ones weren't good, these are just my two personal favorites.


Style
Style wise I have to go with a tie again, "World Record" and "Kid's Story". Both were refreshing to watch, the best of these two though goes to 'Kid's Story", I loved that shaky hand drawn type of style, espeically towards the end when everything begins to get distorted, very nice. Overall though I was very pleased with the Animatrix, going into it I just expected to see a whole lot of Anime, which isn't a bad thing, but I was certainly both surprised and pleased with it.


Story
Ah, this is a tough one to choose. How would I go about rating the stories? Well, first of all, I love the Matrix, and I extremely enjoy finding out more stuff about it, that's partly why I created this blog. That is what the Animatrix does, it gives you a glimpse at other facets of the matrix that are not explored in the films, so, overall I loved all the stories, but, I have to pick favorites so here it goes. "World Record" and "Beyond". For me, these two sessions really gave interesting and exciting glimpses into the matrix. In "World Record" you have a guy who "realizes" that the reality he believes is reality is really only a transitory state of mind, so he runs so hard that his muscles rip and snap, but he doesn't accept that as real so he goes on, and in doing this he "wakes up" from the matrix. Unfortunately though, the machines were aware of this, so right after he woke up, they simply reinserted him. This story shows us what happens to all the not so Neo's, that are able to realize the existence of the matrix, but don't actually make it out. Secondly, "Beyond" was amazing, this episode shows us more of the anomalies in the matrix. It has been pointed out that the matrix is not a perfect equation so there are mistakes. In Reloaded we are told that natural disasters, or freak occurrences are nothing more than mistakes in the matrix. In "Beyond" however, we get to actually see these mistakes. Also, we also get to see how the other 99% of humanity would deal with something like this. The main character, after experience these freak occurrences, doesn't really give a second thought to them and just keeps on with her life, like she doesn't care. Anyways, in my mind, these were the two best stories, although I have to give an honorable mention to "Kid's Story" and the whole self-substantiation idea, that was way cool.


Entertainment
Now obviously all of these episodes are extremely entertaining, but the ones that I would want to watch the most are Osiris and "Matriculated". Both of these episodes offer me a great deal of entertainment, there isn't much else to say about that.


Knowledge/Insight
This category is a lot like the Story category, but point of the Animatrix was to inform, and give us some history on it. So, for this category it is a no brainer. "The Second Renaissance: I & II" take the cake. I know I am not the only one who wanted to know, when Morpheus was giving us the cliff notes version of the war in The Matrix, what actually happened. This episode I believe had the most to offer in terms of knowledge, history, and insight as to why there is even a matrix to begin with. I am glad that they decided to show us all of it.



Well, that is it. As I have said before, overall I loved the Animatrix. It was an excellent edition to the trilogy and I am very glad that the W. Brothers decided to go through with it. I strongly urge any of you who have not seen it to go out and buy it or rent it or whatever, but is a must see for anyone interested in the matrix. I also would like to know what you think, so e-mail me, or leave a comment, let me know which ones you thought should've won in the above categories or just things that you liked about something, let me know.

Some Interesting Links

Here is a link to the abridged version of the Matrix Reloaded Script, a rather humorous take on it.
-THE MATRIX RELOADED: THE ABRIDGED SCRIPT By Rod Hilton


This is an extremely intersting site. The owner e-mailed me about and asked me to check it out, I did and needless to say I am very intrigued with it. I suggest that you check it out and help with the search for the answer to the "question that drives us mad", what is the matrix?
-Jon Lippe's Cell Phone

Has Smith Gone Unnoticed

Okay, so obviously as we have seen in Reloaded, the machines are often times more worried about the exiles, the renegade programs, than they are about the rebels. So, why haven't the machines done anything to try and get Smith taken care of. Especially now that he has started duplicating himself. Think about it, at that rate Smith could probably "take over" the whole human race inside the matrix. If that were to happen the machines would have quite a problem on their hands.

PI(MMMMMM)

No, not that kind of PI,

3.141592653589798594254864360313829340438145573431763425042576916719999025782926484920135789853191185950452987295269682469844607569190204601072121260892773947526465387520939147889838379128943

That kind of PI.

I was playing through Enter the Matrix the other day and I saw a cut scene with Bane, now, for those of you who have not yet played the game I will include a short description of the scene for it lasted only a few seconds. I can't recall where he was, but it showed Bane for a second then he looked down at his hand, the one that he sliced twice with a knife in Reloaded before attempting to kill Neo. The two cuts were slightly healed, then Bane made a third cut that was at the top of the two previous slices and intersected both of them, much resembling the symbol used to portray PI, 3.14 for that is, which can be seen here, with some explanation.

Another occurence of PI in Reloaded is, when talking with the Keymaker, the rebels discover that they have exactly 314 seconds after the power is cut to get into the door that will eventually lead to the source.

The Matrix is full of numerology and that is just a tiny bit of it. I was wondering also if there were any more incidents where PI popped up in the two pictures? E-mail me or leave a comment if you can think if one, and for a more in depth history of PI, check out this page.

Babies and Residual Self Image

Crowley left a comment asking the question about babies inside the matrix.

If babies are "grown" in the matrix pods, from the liquified dead, then their parents in the matrix "really" are not their parents, right? They really don't have parents. Because their parents in the Matrix didn't really have sex together?

So, there has to be a program in the matrix that keeps track of when a new baby is ready to be inserted into the Matrix, and then "matches" the it to a woman programmed to be pregnant? Right?

This raised a very interesting question that I don't think has been explored. So, how do babies occur within in the matrix? If you were to think about it then a possible explantion would be the machines would let people naturally have sex inside the matrix. The machines would then have some regular interval worked out for when a baby needs to be created to keep the population up. So the machines would then randomly choose a couple having sex and match the sperm and egg which ends up creating a baby. This has quite a huge hole in it though. If there are multiple farms then what happens if someone plugged in over in asia has sex with someone plugged in say in South America, it would be quite a hassle to get the sperm and egg together to create a baby.

Another thing is RSI or residual self image. If no one ever sees themselves inside the matrix then how come their RSI matches how they actually look? My answer to this is that a persons RSI is purely sub concious, and that is why people can't change what they look like inside the matrix, because their RSI is so deeply entombed in their mind that it would take quite a bit of meditation to dig down that deep and find it. So I believe that your RSI occurs naturally inside your sub-concious, and that your body "knows" what it looks like, even if your eyes have never seen it.

I don't know, both of these things need to be explored, so let me know what you think.

AHHH!

Alright for some reason the menu bar on the right has duplicated itself. I am trying to figure out just why this is happening, at this point in time I have absolutely no idea. So if there is anyone out there who might have had a similar problem or has an idea for a solution, please let me know because this is really bothering me. Thanks.

Back To The Search!


I just returned from a short vacation to the east coast, I have a load of new content ready to be put up but I am going to pace myself, so stay tuned.