Blogging Around

The first blog I read was that of Mr. David Zakhodin, titled "Dialectics: Reality and Simulation," where David contemplated both ideas, along with that of a middle-ground, subconscious world in between the two.

David! First of all, great job, man. I love how much you've thought about the worlds of the Matrix, and after reading your post I knew I had to comment on it right away. (But just a spoiler alert, what I'm going to say has to do with the the last movies of the Matrix trilogy, so if you don't want to know anything about what happens, don't say I didn't warn you.)

I'm so glad you brought up the possibility of this "in-between world" in the middle of reality and the Matrix, because it exists! At the end of the second movie (Matrix: Reloaded) and the beginning of the third movie (Matrix: Revolutions) Neo is in a subway station, called Mobil (anagrammatic for "limbo"). This limbo is very much like the one as you mentioned in Inception; Neo's mind and RSI are stuck in this "dreamworld," so to speak, and his body is back on the hovercraft (sound familiar?)

And thus this idea of the dream-state manifests! I completely agree with you - I think our subconscious inadvertently reflects immensely on our reality. I kind of talked about this in my Dialectics post, where I examined the conscious and the unconscious, and also pointed out that the unconscious has more influence over our conscious reality than we realize, and can reveal a good deal about ourselves and the world around us. 

So, yes! To answer your intriguing question, the buffer state between reality and simulation does exists - both in the Matrix (Mobil), and I believe arguably in the real world (dreaming). But I still cannot answer whether or not I would live blissfully ignorant or realistically free. I'd like to think that given the choice I would avoid choosing what I consider self-indulgence and instead choose freedom, but I really can't stand behind that answer and say 100% thats what I would do. 

And what's really going to "bake your noodle" (to use my nerdy Matrix vocabulary) is whether or not I will consciously or subconsciously make that choice.

Or even if I truly will have any partaking in that choice at all?



The second blog I commented on was entitled "Inconvenient Truth: Clichés," written by Academy's very own Sam Korsky. Sam talked about the excessiveness and seemingly unavoidableness of clichés and overused ideas.

Sam Korsky, you insightful young bloke! I'm so happy I found this post, because it was wonderful and perceptive, and clearly I have some things to say! (All good, no worries!)

I am probably the most anticliché person out there. Especially when it comes to typical love stories, or how love is supposed to be, etc, etc, I cannot stand it! Call my crazy, but I'm the type of person who cringes at flowers and balloons and chocolate on Valentine's Day, or excessive and inconvenient demonstrations of chivalry. This might seem oddly pessimistic for someone like me, but it's just one of many paradoxes about myself. And this isn't because of any feministic motivation. It's simply because of its tacky and overbearing appearance basically since the beginning of time.

I love what you said about how ironically deviating from typical clichés have sort of become clichés within their own rights, because I think that is definitely true. And it's frustrating when all you want is something new and different. But this is also what I think makes certain examples of literature, art, or music more phenomenal than others. I don't think it's so much the ability to avoid clichés, but rather the ability to deliver them in an atypical way. I think a lot of the music I'm drawn to can easily be said to embody cliché and overdone themes, but by showing them through unique stories and sounds, that's where it becomes golden. :)

Dialectics: The Conscious and Unconscious Mind

Psychoanalytic theorist Sigmund Freud defines consciousness and unconsciousness as the following:

The conscious mind consists of what we are aware of; what we can rationally process and think about.

The unconscious mind consists of feelings and thoughts that influence our behavior when we are unaware.

The Martrix demonstrates two worlds in which one exists consciousness, or "enlightened" minds (with Morpheus and friends) and the other exists unconsciousness (with Agent Smith and friends). It is easy to separate the world as such because, as defined by Freud, unconscious minds can be classified as unaware and incontrollable, whereas conscious minds are knowledgeable of reality.

The power of the Matrix comes from its ability to work through the unconscious mind, to influence our behavior through feelings and thoughts without us realizing it or being able to control it. The problem is the unconscious mind has much more influence over our demeanor and personality than our conscious minds. Thus, what those in the Matrix may think they are thinking or doing consciously is actually just a reflection of what is in their unconscious mind (and unfortunately that happens to be the Matrix.)

This idea reflects the reason for what I believe makes Neo "the one," besides his anagrammatic name. Neo's ability to channel the unconscious is what makes him have an edge against the Matrix. Now, granted, I don't know why he specifically has this ability, maybe its some genetic mutation, who knows? Neo says when he first meets Morpheus, "I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my own life," which basically exemplifies the notion that Neo would much rather be completely aware that blissfully ignorant. But not only would he prefer to be aware, but he doesn't even know yet that he actually is. Throughout his whole life, as Morpheus points out, Neo has felt that there is something wrong about the world, "like a splinter in [his] mind." This, I believe, is his unconscious mind that he is bringing into consciousness; taking the idea of the Matrix that is vested in his inner thought and pulling it into a place where he can rationally process, and ultimately control it.

Controlling the unconscious mind is a powerful thing. This goes back to the whole post-modern idea that "you cannot defeat the system." So the only alternative I see is to get inside of it. One cannot simply destroy their unconsciousness to destroy the Matrix. Instead, as Neo so expertly does, working within and testing the system's boundaries, is basically like infiltrating the unconscious mind and controlling it from the inside out, bringing it into consciousness; bring the Matrix into a location where it can be controlled, yet, as the post modernist would point out, not entirely eradicated.

"When I used to look out at this world, all I could see was its edges, its boundaries, its rules and controls, its leaders and laws. But now I see another world. A different world where all things are possible. A world of hope. Of peace. I can't tell you how to get there, but I know if you can free your mind, you'll find the way."