For Homework read Chapter 1.
You have two choices.. if you choose option 2, please post a discription of your project and if possible a link illustrating it.
OPTION 1:
Write a reflection comparing the film the Matrix to what you learned in the lecture about Plato's Allegory of the Cave.
Below is a link to the Allegory of the Cave from Plato's book THE REPUBLIC:
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/allegory.html
Be sure to include examples of some things you found in common. In the film the Matrix.. what realm do you think is most like the cave, most like being in the sun.. What are the shadows? Think about some of the terms discussed in the lecture.
OR,
OPTION 2:
Create a work of art, video, website or interactive project that illustrates Plato's myth of the cave. This can be low tech like a drawing or collage or this can be done with a camera and computer programs. Feel free to encorporate current events or issues in the work.
We will discuss at the beginning of class next week.
14 comments:
In my interpretation of Platos Cave in relation to The Matrix. The light in the cave is computers or technology, the puppetiers are the agents and the image on the wall is The Matrix or fake reality. The slaves are self explanitory; anyone that doesn't know or sees the truth. The light coming from outside is the truth or reality of the fake visuals. The cave it self is the big picture.
As hard as it is to believe, I’ve actually never seen the first Matrix. However, from the clips that we viewed in class, I definitely see the parallels between the film and Plato's Cave. From what I understand Plato's allegory of the cave is a metaphor for societal views that we perceive versus truths that are not obviously apparent.
The main character in the Matrix, Neo, began to be introduced to a whole new world through dreams. This was a dangerous discovery because he was continually being followed by these "agents." The real turning point in the move came when Morphius gave him the option to take the pill that will allow him to continue his normal life and forget everything that happened, or take the pill that will allow him to experience the truth. In relation to Plato's cave, he could either continue his life being exposed to the shadows that the puppet master creates, or he could get out of the dark cave and experience the light, which represents truth. I view Morphius as the one who comes back to the cave to introduce others to a different view; one that isn’t dictated by people who use shadows to manipulate and control you.
In relevance to today's society, I view media as the shadows. In this world of mass communication, it is easy to send all types of messages around the world. We are so engulfed in television, radio, internet, print media, movies, etc. that we are constantly being exposed to what could be shadows. This is not necessarily a bad thing though. It is important to know whats going on in the world; however our attitudes and views become unconsciously shaped by these things. Sometimes we should adopt the Socratic Method. People should be compelled to ask questions instead of being so quick to accept everything all the time.
I feel that when one begins to question life itself and the world in which we live, the thought that there is more to life than what our senses tell us is a basic fundamental in questioning life. Though, there are many ways in which Plato's Cave and The Matrix come across the same ideas and forms of thought, whether intentional or not. The main characters from Plato's cave all show up in The Matrix along with a few extra cast members to add to the excitement. The puppet masters of the cave are there to fool the un enlightened, mostly for the good of the puppet masters them selves. In the cave, they do so for political or social reasons In the Matrix, the puppet masters being the computer systems themselves, they fool the unenlightened because human minds and bodies cant continue to produce energy while in a comatose state. Those who have seen the light also both show up in the cave and in the Matrix. Morpheus and his crew have all seen the true being of life and return to pull Neo and others from the puppet masters and force them to see it as well much like the philosophers did once they left the cave, they returned to show others the light. In the movie the Matrix, the cave is the computer world, because that is the world in which the unenlightened are fooled by the shadows, yet the shadows of the Matrix are more than just images on a wall, they are complete sensory manipulation through electricity. Once removed from the manipulation of the "shadows" they enter the real world of true being.
In comparing the movie “Matrix” and Plato’s Cave I can see that the two are very closely related in the sense that they both give the viewer a very clear definition of two worlds “the fake and the real”. Early in the matrix Neo and others like him are in the fake world and can only see, touch, smell, and taste what they are allowed… like the people in Plato’s cave. They can only see the puppet show on the wall and have no idea what’s going on outside the cave. Later in the movie Neo escapes the matrix and has a hard time believing what Morpheus and his friends tell him. He doesn’t want to believe that everything he’s experienced in his life is a lie. This is very closely related to the part of Plato’s story where one person goes outside the cave and comes back enlightened, to tell the others and is greeted by disbelief. Even though the matrix being much more complex then the story of Plato’s Cave you can still basically derive the main point from each of the stories. Which is what we know isn’t always the truth; we should be open-minded to what others have to say and other sources of the same truth. As well as always look for the certain facts for ourselves.
The movie the matrix is very much related to Plato’s Allegory of the cave. The cave represents some type of imprisonment and force to only view a reflection or representation of reality versus the truth or the real identity of something. The relation is apparent through out the entire film however I feel that the connection between the two is mostly evident during the part of the film when Neo is finally released from his own confusing prison and explained the truth of his life and the world he lives in. Neo was confused his whole life. He was living in a paradox, knowing that something was not exactly right with his perception of the world until he came to understand and see the reality behind his contradicting observations.
In a contemporary interpretation I have found and made a correlation to the current way people live to the allegory of the cave. Our world now is filled with so much technology and machines. Sometimes I feel like the machine it self, living as a prisoner to a common routine based on our cities infrastructure or to societal technology demands. I wake up, clean up, get dressed, get into my car, drive from point a to point b, point b to point a and so forth, living in this routine is like being stuck in the cave until you break free and just get away from all the technology, cars, transit systems and etcetera. Imagine following a technology filled routine for so long then just stopping it by making a detour. You get out of your car and sit in a park with the worlds real natural beings. It’s like you have been freed from prison and let out in an open, peaceful, real world.
Plato's Allegory of the Cave coincides perfectly with the movie the Matrix. The "cave" is the Matrix, or the "real world" that everyone sees around them. The puppeteers are the Agents who control what goes on inside the Matrix. The slaves, or prisoners of the cave, are all the humans who have not been awakened into the true world and live in ignorant bliss. The philosophers are the prisoners who have escaped the Matrix, such as Trinity and Morpheus, and know the truth about the world they live in. They run around inside the Matrix, or cave, attempting to awaken others, like Neo, and free them from their prison in the cave.
There many obvious connections between the Matrix and Plato's allegory "The Cave". I do first want to make a statement that I think is interesting about this allegory. I find it odd, humorous even, how Plato chooses to describe the perceived world and the actual world. The whole idea is that what we see all the time is only the perceived truth while reality can only be known through ascension to intellectual enlightenment. Yet what he uses for intellectual ascension is what he calls the perceived world. To use what he believes to be the false reality is used to demonstrate reality. Didn't he think that might just cause more confusion in the minds of those he is trying to pull from the cave. They might think that the reality and enlightenment he shows them is as perceived as it's representation in his allegory.
Anyway, moving on to the assignment at hand. The Matrix, the system itself not the movie, is the cave. Everyone connected to it are the prisoners. Only instead of being shown the perceived world via shadows it's shown through electrical signals inserted directly into the brain. They're not even getting the chance to determine if they are just shadows. What you see is what you get. There isn't even a chance to have fun guessing what the objects are. These shadows are so convincing that there is no doubting that they are reality.
I would disagree that the agents alone are the puppeteers. The agents are mere enforcers of the puppeteers. Those that would have this title were never really shown to us. They would be all the programs and machines that are in charge of running and maintaining the Matrix. Some of them would be like the robot that removed Neo from the Matrix when he woke up. These are the puppeteers.
The fire in the cave is the essence of false knowledge. It presents the what it wants the prisoners to see. They only know what it wants them to see. The fire would be the Architect, you know the guy that looked like Colonel Sanders from KFC. He decides what life in the Matrix is like. He decides how all of his prisoners perceive the world.
Leaving the cave brings the prisoner into reality, into the true light, intellectual enlightenment. Of course the real world is representative of this in the Matrix. Again, it's funny that the real world, the light in the movie is completely cast in shadow. This reminds of a standard phrase we should all know. "Ignorance is bliss." The perceived world was happier than the enlightened one. That seems to be the one huge difference between the film and the allegory. The light is supposed to be where anyone of real intelligence wants to be. A pleasant place that no one would want to be without. But like Plato said, those in either position think those in the other are wrong. Those in the dark will fight to stay there and those in the light will fight to force others out of the dark. This is also reflected in the movie. Overall the movie is a direct reflection of Plato's Allegory The Cave.
The Martix does hve some connections with Plato's Allegory of the Cave. In my opinion, the computer program known as the "Matrix" is the modern day cave. The puppeteers are the Agents and other computer programs working to keep the slaves (people) in ignorant bliss and away from enlightenment. However, a select few have seen the light and become enlightened. These 'philosophers' are the main cast, Morpheus and Trinity, etc. They wear sunglasses to show that they have been awakened and that they see the light even when inside the cave. (Matrix) They use their knowledge to show people like Neo how to 'wake up' and see the light for themselves.
Both "Plato’s Cave" and "The Matrix" are portrayals in which there are two realities, one seeming and one real. The Matrix is not based exactly on Plato's Cave, however there are several parallels between them. The similarities in The Matrix, relate to Plato's concept. They project his thoughts of logic from The Cave into a perspective that makes it sort of easier for people to understand when it is put into a science-fiction movie. Mainly the shadow world is inside the matrix and the real world is outside the matrix. There are other things that could be compared such as the puppet handlers being the machines and the people who have seen the real world go back in to the matrix and so on. It is interesting to think about.
-Krystal
The matrix is a perfect analogy to Plato's the cave. The shadows on the wall represent the mind control that the machines have over the human race. Those that have broken free of the machines grip are the enlightened ones. They see the world as it truly is. The character morphis ius the teacher. he comes back to the cave to help others to see the truth and to help with enlightenment.
The Matrix is a great example of Platos Cave. i thought it was really interesting how everyone thats free from the matrix, the cave, wears sunglasses. Like they are finally enlightened and the sunlight is blinding them. something else i also noticed was that zion is actually just a big cave. It's full of darkness and no sunlight what so ever. But when Noe and the others enter our world they are enlightened, they know the true. Signifying that with the glasses protecting their eyes from the sunlight.
in the matrix i think the cave is the world we live in and the puppeteer is the designer of the matrix the people that come back to help are represented as morpheus and trinity.
i think that we actually live in a very artificial world im really interested in astral voyages (were you lift yourself of your body and travel wherever you want and find place you never thoutgh existed) and i think you can find a lot of unexplainable things that make u wonder about the actual world there are so many things we dont know and so many things yet to discover i think there are people more evolved than others and people that understand more the meaning of life i think that there is actually a parallel world to this where we can find answers about life
[IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/mariacarogaz/thecave.gif[/IMG]
Maria Gazabon
Graphic Design
I thought the analogy of the cave was very interesting. I think it can be applied to many things like friendship, economics,science,religion and many other things. It is basically saying that we as humans are sometimes naive and dont question the things around us enough. In other words we trust everything we see.The image i did was basically the same reference image but i put color and made it bigger and i think its a little bit more self explanatory than the original.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/mariacarogaz/thecave.gif
Post a Comment