The matrix and the allegory of the cave"an essay of comparision and contrast, Comparing and contrasting "The Matrix" and Plato s "The Allegory Of The Cave"

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One of the major themes that is noticeable in the Matrix is "being as such". When considering the Matrix, essay online buy Neo lives in complete delusion, a prisoner of artificial intelligence with no real control or perception of reality. He believes he is living in the city, enjoying hot weather when in reality his brain is in a body being tracked and controlled by machines thousands of years later than the time he thinks he exists. The matrix and the allegory of the cave"an essay of comparision and contrast

The Matrix and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Essay

The Matrix, a 1999 film created by Andy and Lana Wachowski, and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave both reveal the ongoing questions of "What is reality?" and "Are we living in the real world or an illusion of the real world?" Matrix is a sci-fi action film that talks about how the real world that Neo thought to be real was only an illusion and how the people living in the Matrix world are like being trapped in a cave. This film adapted from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave because they share many similar characteristics and Matrix is a modern, more exciting version of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. The Matrix and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave both show us how to perceive our own reality and to distinguish between what is real and what is not real.

The Resistance (the people trying to survive in the Matrix) and Neo trapped in the Matrix universe is very similar to the prisoners trapped in the cave of Plato’s allegory. In the Matrix, the machines are controlling the human beings in the story and make them see what they want them to see, which is a strong relation to how the prisoners have been living their lives in the cave for so many years. When Plato says, "They have been there since childhood and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move….Their heads are held by the chains so that they must sit facing the back wall of the cave and cannot turn their heads to look up through the entrance behind them", this tells you the prisoners are held in front of a wall of a cave with their hands, legs, and heads chained together so that they can’t move or see behind them. In the Matrix, a similar situation occurs when Neo is being held in a liquid chamber attached to a large pillar, which the machines use to harvest his heat in order to power them. Between Plato’s allegory and the Matrix, you can see that both people in both stories (prisoner and Neo) are brought from their caves and into the light to seek their true reality. The prisoner sees shadows in the cave, which is a direct comparison to what Neo sees in the Matrix. The Matrix itself is a prison built as a virtual world that controls everyone and everything in it and is basically another reality. This other world has things in it that we cannot see, smell, or touch. It puts you into a virtual state of mind, so even when you think you are not trapped, you still are trapped. As Neo enters the Matrix, this is the same as the prisoners trapped in the cave. When the prisoner in the Allegory of the Cave gets released and brought up into the real world, this is when Neo chooses to believe whether the Matrix is real or not. The difference between the Allegory of the Cave and the Matrix is that the world the prisoners live in is a much more unpleasant world than the one Neo lives in. The prisoners are chained in the cave from the day that they were born and have nothing else to do except stare at a stone wall, looking at shadows. However, in the Matrix, Neo enters a world where anything is possible (dodging bullets, jumping from building to building, etc.) and a world that isn’t constricted by laws or authority figures.

I believe that the Matrix helps me answer the question "what is real?" much more than Plato’s Allegory of the Cave because in the Matrix, you have two different worlds to compare: the real world and this virtual world. It is much easier to find out what is real or not when you can see the contrast of one thing with the other and also change your perception on reality as you have different things to think about when given such a clear understanding of what is going on. As well, the Matrix is much more modern than the Cave and it shows me much more emotion and feeling from each character in the story, which gives me a stronger conclusion to "what is real". After watching the Matrix, I started to think that the world I live in was really real or not. It made me think of a world that I can live in someday where anything is possible. The Matrix put on toll on my life as I started to question what I am really living for. The Matrix really makes me think much deeper into life because before watching the movie, I felt that life was all about doing hard work and achieving great goals, but now I feel that life is all just a routine and I want to get out of it. The Allegory of the Cave should use a little more emotion and feeling to it because the prisoners in the story are mute and I feel that they should say what they need to say to each other or at least have their point of view of the situation at hand.

In conclusion, The Matrix and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave both show us how to perceive our own reality and to distinguish between what is real and what is not real. They show us that we can chose our reality based on what we have observed in life and decide on our own what we think is real or not. I talked about the similarities and differences between the Matrix and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, as well as my point of view on which story clearly explains what is real and why I thought one was better than the other, in terms of their thoughts on the perception of reality.

Comparing and contrasting "The Matrix" and Plato's "The Allegory Of The Cave"

Comparing and contrasting the synopsis "The Matrix" to Plato’s "The Allegory Of The Cave" and also Descartes "Meditation I Of The Things Of Which We May Doubt" which have several similarities and also some differences. In all three of these stories the main idea is that reality is in question. In the Matrix, the human being is in a pod like machine that is controlled by a computer simulating what we think and know to be reality. Reality is not only created but manipulated to deceive what is truly surrounding you, when you are clearly in a pod unaware of what reality really is.

In Plato’s "The Allegory of the Cave" this also focuses on two different realities based on what is in fact real and what is perceived. Plato’s view on the prisoners being fooled into a false reality by placing fake objects around them to trick their perception of reality and also put them in a one track state of mind, while life goes on outside of where they are captive.

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This is similar to The Matrix because in both stories the people are being manipulated to believe a reality outside of what is truly happening at the present time. In both stories, the person that has been captive for a certain period of time but then is able to experience reality outside of just manipulated perception has doubts, they are in disbelief of what they are actually able to witness for the first time. Reality, not perception but what is truly real happening and not being simulated or manipulated so that you would be fooled into believing something that is not real.

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In the Matrix, Neo lived a pretty normal life as an everyday human being but could not sleep well and like Plato stated that the prisoner would have to sense something, get some kind of feeling that something just was not quite right about his surroundings and the way they were existing.

Another similarity is that the prisoners and pods were being manipulated to believe a false reality by people above them. They were prisoners in caves and pods. I think of course a difference is of course time periods. Although these stories have similar ideas, the Matrix was an updated version of ideas of two difference realities. A similarity between the Matrix and Descartes is whether or not we are dreaming or if it is in fact reality and how do we know? Neo is questioned about his dreams and being able to wake from the dream and tell if he was indeed awake or still dreaming and that it was Descartes really focuses on in Meditation.

Once the prisoner is set free, reality for him is shocking because now what you have been exposed to for so long was a lie. Although this false reality was a lie it was not only what was perceived as real to them but familiar. Finding out something like this can be freeing and yet disappointing and scary like it was for Cypher. Once he discovered that they were lifeless humans being manipulated in pods by computers he was terrified and wanted to erase what he found to be reality. Cypher wanted to go back to how things were before he discovered what really happening to him because he could not and did not want to deal with reality. He found comfort in the simulated life he was given.

As far as ignorance being bliss or finding out the harsh reality of illusion, I feel like it depends on the person. I know some people who purposely try to live in a false reality because they just would rather live in a fairytale. They do not want to deal with the harsh realities that come along with knowing the truth. I also know others that no matter how painful or frustrating reality is, knowing what is real and understand what is indeed true is the only way they can function in life.

Comparing and Contrast the Allegory of the Cave and the Matrix

Have you ever wondered whether, Plato, if he were alive in the 20 century, would he be a brilliant movie director, with productions that earned more than $400 million? Both Plato’s "Allegory of Cave" and Andy and Lana Wachowski’s movie "The Matrix" explore the abstruse question of perception of truth. What is truth, and how do we determine what is truth? "I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. This quote from the Matrix vividly illustrates the truth that how people perceive is the way they think, their realization of the truth is due to the world in which they live. Different people may have different perceptions of knowledge, which leads them to a distinct understanding of truth. It is about personal experience seeking the truth, in the process to knowledge - an image does not accurately reflect reality that is the challenge for both Socrates and Neo, the protagonist in the Matrix.

Considering one day there is a chicken that has lived with ducks since he was born, and never seen other chicken. Will that chicken ever know he is a chicken, or even when he sees other chicken, does he know it is a chicken? The prisoners in the cave have been chained together and have been separated from the outside world since birth. Consequently, their perceptions of objects are based on the shadows of those things, shadows produced by firelight in the cave as true representations. The environment where they have lived creates a world basic on their perception of things.

Like Plato mentioned in the story: "To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images. " The prisoners form their own opinion about things they perceive as true representation. By comparison, people who live in the Matrix accept the buildings and the things around them as the truth. However, the truth they have been accepting is merely their opinion, but no necessarily an opinion formed through knowledge. "If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain".

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This quote identities are the result of opinions formed their brains. The tunnel in the Allegory of Cave and the red pill in The Matrix are the keys that open the door of knowledge for essay buy online them. In the world of the Matrix, or the Cave, where everyone accepts objects as the truth, and real, like the shadows on the wall of the cave, this is a way to realize truth, to decide to walk through the tunnel and to pick a red pill, is a choice to enter a world of knowledge. As it is mentioned in the Matrix, "You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.

You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. " In both the story and the movie, everyone is so close to knowledge of the truth that they just need to put their foot across the threshold; nevertheless, it is the hardest step to enter door in their mind. It is a leap of faith into the unknown. "And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him? This quote amply illustrates that everything is decided in their mind, it is their choice, and although Socrates and Neo suffer some physical discomfort in making the journey, they are now in the world of knowledge, the world of real truth. The profound brilliance of the sun can provide another source of discomfort, it cannot be seen directly through human eyes due to the intensity of the power it emits. Similarly, Socrates and Neo experience some physical suffering, such as, pain in their eyes and muscle problems while witnessing at true light for the first time. Why does my muscle hurt? Because you never used it. " This conversation dramatizes the difficulty faced by people as they make the transition from the limited world they know to the real world. The process of accepting and being able to "see" the real world is arduous; and comes about as a result of enormous changing in their belief and challenging knowledge of what they have long accepted. Knowledge is a concept that many philosophers, over thousands of years, strive to experience.

Knowledge can be extremely powerful, but it can be illusive as well; however, once into the world of knowledge, people can distinguish the real truth from what they help as true. "And the first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water……,Last of he will be able to see the sun,…… and he will contemplate him as he is. " Plato believed that, as long as there is a gradual process of adapting to the light, Socrates will be available adjust, and to see through the essence of things.

In Plato’s Allegory of Cave, Socrates is fully aware of the truth after a process of adjusting to the light of real world, and then he returns to the cave and tries to teach to the others, the truth he has discovered. "Men would say of him that up he went and down…… and they would put him to death. " In spite of his efforts, the chained prisoners reject the real world due to the pain that is brought to them by the lights, they prefer to maintain the illusion of the images they saw as truer representations than the objects in the real world. Similarly, Cypher, the character in the Matrix, has been freed to see the real world.

Unlike people who accept the truth and try to fight the agents in the Matrix, Cypher wants to go back to Matrix without knowing anything about real world. "The Matrix isn't real. I disagree, Trinity. I think that the Matrix can be more real than this world. " People who free themselves may not perceive reality, like Cypher, he chooses go back to the Matrix because there is less suffering than in the real world. The same as the prisoners in Plato’s story, they would rather accept the illusion they see as truth, than go to the real world due to the pain it brings to them.

Knowledge is the place where people want to be but may not necessarily be able to be in there. Even for people in the world of truth, the real world, who may also be bogged down in their search for truth, as apart from what they accepted before; this takes people’s mind to accept the changes from the previous knowledge held. In the Matrix, Neo does not confirm the truth in the real world where he is, until he accepts the training offered by Morpheus. Moreover, near the end of the movie, he makes the simple statement: "My name…is Neo! in which he accepts himself in the real world instead of the name, Thomas Anderson, used in the Matrix – a world build by computer programs. In comparison to the Allegory of the Cave, Socrates accepts the truth after he adapts to the real world and sees things clearly in the real world. As it is mentioned in the story "Last he will be able to see the sun……; and he will contemplate him as he is" No one can enlighten anyone else toward the world of knowledge, people have to enlighten themselves in their own minds.

What is truth? The truth itself is a personal definition and realization of things in the world around us. Truth is a concept that seeks deeply to be defined in people’s minds; everyone has their subjective opinion of what truth it is. In both the story and the movie, some people realize the real truth but others do not; there is no right or wrong, just different view toward knowledge. Even now, the truth that people are accepting is not truth; even truth itself may not be truth.

The matrix and the allegory of the cave"an essay of comparision and contrast, The matrix and the allegory of the cave"an essay of comparision and contrast