Matt D Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Following the recent discussion with the Philosophy Film Club, you can find my commentary on The Matrix (1999) below. This theory is an expansion of a topic mentioned during the Film Club hangout and is one that I haven't encountered elsewhere. As always I'm eager to hear your thoughts. http://unraise.com/2015/02/15/the-matrix-part-1-a-metaphor-for-the-unconscious/ 1
_LiveFree_ Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 The Matrix compared to Internal Family Systems Therapy: Human Beings = the physical body Machines = the mind Aspects of the Machines: Deus Ex Machina (Machine God) = managers Agents/Squidies = firefighters Exiles = Exiles Neo = the Conscious Self; his purpose is to bring peace to all of the warring factions (to end the war). The body has desires, managers keep the exiles locked up and under control, firefighters are brought in when exiles or the body come up and upset the established order of things. I have found this comparison to be far more with the implications than any other interpretation. For other comparisons, look at societal structures right before a revolution. For instance, the French Revolution saw 3 classes; the First Estate, Second Estate, and Third Estate. These are somewhat misnamed as the First and Third Estates are of the same class. The true "First Estate" would have been royal family. Royal family = managers Nobles/Clergy = firefighters 3rd Estate = exiles (the people) The human mind manifests itself in the world. It can't not. Everything human beings do is a reflection of what is going on on the inside.
Delightful Might Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Hi Matt, your website is excellent! Thanks for the commentary. It is extremely attractive to think that someone else has the answer, but I liked what you said about each of us has our own Morpheous voice, and that we can each be our own "One." I heart my inner compass. Habit or discomfort can translate into seemingly credible thoughts. Me: "I think that's enough for one night, anymore and I could break into pieces." Yoga Teacher: "And three more breaths, hold it . . . 3 . . . . 3 (ha ha) . . . 2 . . . 1, okay now release." Me: (thinking) Wow, I was stronger than I thought, but my thoughts were very persuasive. I could have broken into half. Really. A very small example, but I've discovered my body can speak to me credibly, and in English. Sorting through when I am in my pre-frontal cortex vs. when it's my parent's voice vs. when it is habit, or alcohol!! LOL! Has helped me a lot. Your Matrix analogy helps me to understand all this even more. D PS Nathan - I liked what you said about what is on the inside must be on the outside!
Sal9000 Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 These are somewhat misnamed as the First and Third Estates are of the same class. The true "First Estate" would have been royal family. It was a bit more complicated. The first estate was purely religious, all nuns, priests, bishops and so on belonged to it. However, it was not uniform. During the course of time, there was a separation. Simple clerics came from the third estate, while important religious leaders were of noble descendant. The second estate was the nobility, which was either hereditary and connected to feudalism (noblemen as leaders of soldiers and owners of land) or hereditary and functional (magistrates and civil deputies). Only in the latter case, could you move up from the third estate. The third estate was the rest and paid virtually all taxes. In theory, there was no difference between a rich merchant and a poor serf toiling on the field. Royalty was not considered part of any estate, but to be independent of those and to mediate between conflicts.
_LiveFree_ Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 It was a bit more complicated. The first estate was purely religious, all nuns, priests, bishops and so on belonged to it. However, it was not uniform. During the course of time, there was a separation. Simple clerics came from the third estate, while important religious leaders were of noble descendant. The second estate was the nobility, which was either hereditary and connected to feudalism (noblemen as leaders of soldiers and owners of land) or hereditary and functional (magistrates and civil deputies). Only in the latter case, could you move up from the third estate. The third estate was the rest and paid virtually all taxes. In theory, there was no difference between a rich merchant and a poor serf toiling on the field. Royalty was not considered part of any estate, but to be independent of those and to mediate between conflicts. Right, but what I'm talking about are the true relationships between each class from a psychological standpoint and reordering their classification to reflect their station. What I laid out was not what you'd learn in a history book. Nor am I trying to rewrite history but simply to interpret the relationships between the classes on a psychological level at the onset of revolution.
Matt D Posted February 27, 2015 Author Posted February 27, 2015 The human mind manifests itself in the world. It can't not. Everything human beings do is a reflection of what is going on on the inside. ^ I agree but I would say it's not always conscious. I hadn't thought about the similarity to historic revolutions. Neo's declaration at the end of the film has that revolutionary feeling. Hi Matt, your website is excellent! Thanks for the commentary. It is extremely attractive to think that someone else has the answer, but I liked what you said about each of us has our own Morpheous voice, and that we can each be our own "One." I heart my inner compass. Habit or discomfort can translate into seemingly credible thoughts. Me: "I think that's enough for one night, anymore and I could break into pieces." Yoga Teacher: "And three more breaths, hold it . . . 3 . . . . 3 (ha ha) . . . 2 . . . 1, okay now release." Me: (thinking) Wow, I was stronger than I thought, but my thoughts were very persuasive. I could have broken into half. Really. A very small example, but I've discovered my body can speak to me credibly, and in English. Sorting through when I am in my pre-frontal cortex vs. when it's my parent's voice vs. when it is habit, or alcohol!! LOL! Has helped me a lot. Your Matrix analogy helps me to understand all this even more. D PS Nathan - I liked what you said about what is on the inside must be on the outside! Thanks, D. Your positive feedback is encouraging! People will say there is a mind/body dichotomy but we "think" with our gut all the time. When Morpheus says "the body cannot live without the mind" he's right. However the opposite is true too. The mind cannot live without the body. I would argue this explains why humans rejected the original utopian Matrix - they were stimulated to be happy but their caged bodies knew the truth. We also see this with religious people who claim to have found joy when they came to Jesus. You cannot derive happiness from falseness, even if your mind is conditioned to do so.
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