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Are we all trapped in The Matrix 25 years later?

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Re: Are we all trapped in The Matrix 25 years later?

#41

Post by [deleted] »

satvikpendem wrote: post #22
skywal_l wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the peak of your civilization The more I think of it, the more I think this time was the actual peak of civilization (from a westerner's point of view). The Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Nagano in 98, when the world was singing the Ode to Joy was that peak moment for me [0]. After that, it went all downhill. [0] https://youtu.be/7aGNei01fzQ?feature=shared&t=6290

Recency bias. You were alive then and likely those were your formative years. If you were a Gen Z-er, you'd think that the "actual peak" were very different.

[deleted]

Re: Are we all trapped in The Matrix 25 years later?

#42

Post by satvikpendem »

abracadaniel wrote: post #30
satvikpendem wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recency bias. You were alive then and likely those were your formative years. If you were a Gen Z-er, you'd think that the "actual peak" were very different.

Previously, the “good old days” were the 1950’s before it all went “downhill”. I’m sure the 1890’s were someone’s golden age before electricity ruined everything.

There's a good skit about this: https://youtu.be/hc6VP7Qp-Y8

Re: Are we all trapped in The Matrix 25 years later?

#43

Post by mixmastamyk »

abracadaniel wrote: post #30
satvikpendem wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recency bias. You were alive then and likely those were your formative years. If you were a Gen Z-er, you'd think that the "actual peak" were very different.

Previously, the “good old days” were the 1950’s before it all went “downhill”. I’m sure the 1890’s were someone’s golden age before electricity ruined everything.

La Belle Époque… someone needs to see Midnight in Paris. ;-)

Re: Are we all trapped in The Matrix 25 years later?

#44

Post by twojobsoneboss »

parthianshotgun wrote: post #25
twojobsoneboss wrote: post #5

I have increasingly thought of this, how our current lives are ever more reminiscent of the matrix, being confined in our isolating community-less suburban “pods”, zombiefied on our phones, with no money or safety net to do much else, passing each day like the last

Is art imitating reality or the other way round?

It wasn’t like this when the Matrix was produced - but maybe the Wachovski brothers were prescient

Re: Are we all trapped in The Matrix 25 years later?

#46

Post by paulmd »

hodgesrm wrote: post #27

> But in a strange way, the film has become more relevant today than it was in 1999. With the rise of the smartphone and social media, genuine human interaction has dropped precipitously. This is an interesting comment, because reading a book involves interaction with a text rather than other human beings. Yet we consider that (for the most part) a beneficial thing even though reading a thick book is kind of like put…

Someone here recently drew the analogy to the rat dystopia experiments. Some of us become uncomfortably nervous to function, some withdraw entirely, and then there’s the “beautiful ones”.

Re: Are we all trapped in The Matrix 25 years later?

#47

Post by pyinstallwoes »

zarathustreal wrote: post #29
pyinstallwoes wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve always wondered how many truly unique brains are active at any given moment. How many words are parrots vs source?

The notion of source is an illusion. We’re all just echos of the physical processes that created us and perpetuate us.

There are certainly original thoughts, at least per a sliding window.

Re: Are we all trapped in The Matrix 25 years later?

#48

Post by jprete »

high_priest wrote: post #20
skywal_l wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the peak of your civilization The more I think of it, the more I think this time was the actual peak of civilization (from a westerner's point of view). The Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Nagano in 98, when the world was singing the Ode to Joy was that peak moment for me [0]. After that, it went all downhill. [0] https://youtu.be/7aGNei01fzQ?feature=shared&t=6290

So many posts mention years '98 & '99 as the "peak of civilisation". Them being years of my birth, these mentions & my experiences, enforce in me the feeling that I was born into a falling civilisation. Not that I do not enjoy the vision of passing the stick from organic creatures, made by happenstance, to purpose built machines. But as a human, I do miss the endless opportunities of the 2000s chaos and I feel like t…

After at least 25 years exposed to various civilizational cycle and "Fall of Western Civilization" memes, I still don't know whether it's bullshit or not. And I'm regrettably far enough from Gen Z that it's hard to judge how they're doing.

All we can do is to try our best within the time we're allotted.

Re: Are we all trapped in The Matrix 25 years later?

#50

Post by parthianshotgun »

JohnBrookz wrote: post #31
parthianshotgun wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you can start by asking the right questions

It’s hard. I think people get sucked into the matrix. I had a friend who was a really interesting person. Had well thought out beliefs and we used to talk about philosophy, politics and science. Eventually she got a high paying, high stress high finance job and eventually she had no time to really think about things. Instead it was easier to repeat talking points she saw on the news and spend what little time she had…

Yes, it's hard, I agree. I suppose this is why we venerate Socrates. For our part though, we need to be alive, to understand this unity of being and, to paraphrase Forster, live in fragments no longer.
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