The Matrix and Philosophy - Welcome to the Desert of Reality

Author: Zhang Xiangling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The female priest in The Matrix not only lives in a rough place in a real city but is also an elderly black woman resembling a grandmother—"not what you expect," but very similar to Pythia. She is carefully selected from women over 50, not from innocent girls whose virtue is questionable. Unlike the Oracle of Delphi, this priest living within the real city interacts face-to-face with those seeking her. Ignoring the fact that she sits on a tripod, she happily breathes the scent of small pastries from her oven while also inhaling the smoke from her cigarettes. She is not murmuring or whispering. However, don’t be fooled by this; her prophecies, though simple and clear, are as purposeful as Pythia’s. Strangely enough, this priest also asks many questions. "Do you know why you’re here?" "What do you think?" "Do you think you’re the savior?" Neo replied, "I don’t know." Socrates always claimed he didn’t know, but Neo truly didn’t. The priest used irony, saying he was handsome but not very smart. She made Neo infer that he wasn’t the savior and told him that being the savior is like dating. It makes no sense, "You just know it, you know it all over." As a poor consolation, she told him, "You’re talented, but it looks like you’re still waiting for something." "Waiting for what?" Neo asked. Her prophetic response was: "Maybe reincarnation, who knows? Things are always so frustrating." But the priest was not malicious; even during their conversation, she offered honest advice. The priest pointed to a sign above the kitchen door and asked Neo if he knew what it said. She told him it was Latin, meaning "Know Thyself." This famous adage is actually the key to understanding the true meaning of the priest’s prophecies. In the Apollo Temple of Delphi, the same phrase was recorded in Greek, ■■ (not the Latin "wild and unrestrained," "Temet, Nosce"), undoubtedly more important than the priest’s actual answers in explaining any of Pythia’s prophecies. Socrates had already recognized this issue and took a related maxim as his motto: "A life of ignorance is not worth living." The proud and arrogant King Croesus did not know himself, as we have seen, and paid a heavy price for it. Only when Neo timely recognizes himself and believes in himself can he grasp the profound meaning of the priest’s prophecies—including Morpheus finding the savior and Trinity falling in love with a dead person, i.e., the savior. Self-awareness is the key; without it, we cannot open the door to any other valuable knowledge. This theme is not only important for Socrates and The Matrix but also for other famous philosophical films. Fight Club proposed the superficial