Blogging Around

I first commented on Minho's blog titled "Dialectics: Reality and Stimulation," in which he brought up a good point that pretty much everything is real, even if it is isn't concrete.

Minho,
I completely agree with this blog post. The word "real" or "reality" really doesn't have a concrete definition, and along with that, just because something isn't concrete doesn't make it any less real. I love how you approached that with the idea of Neo eating the Noodles and how that was real too. I kinda feel like the Matrix almost complicates our definition of real because it brings into the equation something that is definately not real right now: The Matrix itself. (Well, unless we are in it, in which case, then im wrong). Really, though, this blog post get's across a great point: Everything really, is real. And i LOVE how you wrote it too. Nice job!

Then I commented on Kara's blog, also titled "Dialectics: Reality and Stimulation," only she made a point of talking about how people choose simulation over reality to get away from their real lives. 

Kara,
I love this post because I think it applies to our world a lot now. You talked about how people in the world will someday be forced to choose between reality and stimulation and in a way, people already do that now. It's like the show CATFISH on MTV. It's about how people meet other people online, and fall in love with them. What is interesting, is that when they go to meet each other in person, most of the time, they are nothing like who they are online. Even now in the world, people choose simulation to get away from their real life. Overall, I think the point you make in your blog is awesome, and totally applicable to our lives today, and it was really enlightening. Awesome job girly!

Dialectics: Technology and Nature

Technology and Nature are, at their core, the same thing. So far-fetched right? Nope.

First think about this. What happens when you sit watching TV for like hours on end, all day, everyday? You feel like your eye balls are going to burn out and all you want to do is go outside and get some fresh air. And what happens when you are shoved out into nature for a few weeks with no way to contact the outside world and you have to hunt and search for food and shelter? All you want is a hot shower and a TV and your phone. Technology and nature lure one another; there needs to be a delicate balance between the two, a balance that is disturbed in the Matrix.

The Matrix is like watching a movie (haha, i know). But seriously. If the movie is convincing enough, soon you forget that you're even watching a movie because your mind is so invested in the plot. The Matrix completely engulfs the minds of the people inside of it, so much so, that they don't even know they are living in a virtual world. Technology has literally taken over these people. And when they are freed, it's like leaving the movie. It seems so bright outside because you were just in a dark room, and it takes a minute for you to get comfortable with the sunlight. But you wouldn't go watch two or three movies in a row would you? Only if it was all 8 Harry Potter movies in a row, I know, but other than that, your brain would just fry.

The Matrix is literally one giant piece of technology; it is a network of math equations woven together to create this complex virtual world. The Matrix engulfs the minds of people, it literally lures them in without them even knowing it. And they are constantly contained in this world, with no breathes of fresh air allowed. Not even Neo, Trinity or Morpheus get a breath of fresh air because they lives surround entirely around the Matrix. But isn't it obvious that they want one? To me, it seems like they don't want to be in the Matrix, but they aren't exactly happen living their lives outside the Matrix either. Everything is about plugging someone in to give them certain skills, or transport them somewhere else, or codes to Zion. Everything is technology. They live in a world where technology controls them.

And yet, they so obviously reject nature as well, because when Morpheus shows Neo what the outside world really looks like, it is not like he is begging to stay out there, under the stormy sky. And that's just it. When nature and earth failed them, humans ran to technology to save them. And now they are stuck in a web of technology and they want out; they want to go back to nature.

Nature and technology have the same effect on people. They are scary, and a lot of the time, beyond our mind capacity. But we are lured to both for comfort as well, and this is so evident in the Matrix simply because the people are so uncomfortable. Think about it. There was basically no sunlight in the movie, and the almost the entire plot took place in places made entirely of metal.

So it seems like a stretch, only because there is literally nothing about nature in the Matrix. But nature has everything to do with the Matrix. It is human nature to seek out nature when technology complicates life. The Matrix makes the characters seek out nature, even when they know they can't get it. After all, they have been staring at those codes for so long they are about to burn their eyes out too. They want out. They want a breath of fresh air.