The Quantum and Political Mechanics of The Matrix


I realize that the internet is already chocked-full of amateur interpretations of The Matrix, but I figured that one more couldn't hurt. I'd just like to share a couple revelations I've had with you...



The manipulation of free "WIL"?
Choice

The most important issue this film asks is whether or not “free-will” truly exists. Apart from the political question of “choice”, there is a much deeper question. The debate over whether or not humans have free-will can be related to the idea of "Scientific Determinism". It’s a question of whether or not a complete understanding of the laws of physics will allow all physical events to be predicted.

Classical Physics was based on the idea of determinism. The goal was to develop a complete understanding of the laws of physics, and to be able to use those laws to accurately predict everything in the universe. For example, if one knew the current position and speed of our planet (or any other body for that matter), one can then use the laws of physics to predict its future course. Its future could therefore be considered as pre-determined. Sure, one can argue that some unforeseen event, such a collision with another planetoid, might alter the planet’s course in a manner that wasn’t predicted beforehand. But, if you knew the motions of ALL heavenly bodies, this collision could be foreseen as well.

If you wanted to take this argument further, a person could counter that, as intelligent beings, we humans would see the planetoid hurdling towards our home and would act to alter its course. But humans are made of matter as well, and their brains operate by way of chemical interactions and electric signals. The laws of physics apply to us as well. So it could conceivably be argued that, given sufficient information, one could predict humanity’s actions as well. The future of our universe would remain predetermined.

To put it a better way, imagine that we could build a computer that was powerful enough to know the exact position and speed of every atomic and sub-atomic particle in the universe. Now imagine that mankind possessed a complete understanding of the laws of physics. It would then follow that this computer could, through intense calculation, predict every interaction of all the particles in its database. This would in turn allow our super-computer to predict every interaction of larger systems as well --- Including the molecules that make up the human brain. This would, in effect, allow our computer system to accurately predict the future.

But if a computer can accurately predict the future what does that mean for free will? The ability to predict the future would seem to suggest that the future is already pre-determined. Once events set off on a certain course, it would be impossible, unless something violated the laws of physics, to deviate from that course. This would leave no room for change. It would leave no room for choice. In short, a completely deterministic reality would leave no room for “free-will”. Sure, humans are free to change their mind, but that change would be entirely predictable. And if it is predictable, can you really say that you actually changed your mind?

The Matrix is precisely the kind of computer system hypothesized above! It does know the position of every particle in its world and does have a complete understanding of all the physical laws which rule its reality. This is what allows programs such as the Oracle to predict the future, and this allows her to know exactly what buttons to push to steer it in whatever direction she likes. But if the oracle can be said to be a part of the system as well, her decisions should also be predictable.

But our universe is not deterministic, at least as science understands it toady. Events at the quantum level seem to defy predictability, and can only be expressed as probabilities. This trouble at the quantum level is expressed in the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which states that it is impossible for humans to know the position and speed of any particle and would therefore be unable to program their super-computer to predict events. But most physicists go even further and argue that our inability to predict quantum events is not only due to our lack of understanding, but is due to the fact that events at the quantum level truly lack and physical concreteness and only exist as probabilities. The term most commonly used by physicists is Quantum Weirdness.

For a good beginner example of quantum weirdness, take a look at Feynman’s double-slit experiment (Extremely Short Explanation, The Double-Slit for Dummies, Long Explanation, Technical Explanation). This experiment s an attempt to understand whether sub-atomic particles (such as electrons and photons) are particles or waves. Light, for instance, is most commonly understood as a wave. We are able to speak of light's frequency, and we can observe interference patterns -- a phenomenon associated with waves. But there are other times, such as when discussing the photoelectric effect, light behaves more like a particle. In double-slit experiment, a beam of particles behave like waves, causing interference patterns as the pass through two slits. The interference patterns occur even if you only fire a single particle at a time, which suggests that this single particle still retains its wave-like properties. But if you force this wave to behave as a particle by testing to see which slit the particle actually passes through, the wave will oblige and behave like a particle ... and the interference patterns disappear.


Though some physicist adhere to the Hidden Variable theory of quantum mechanics (the theory that states that our lack of ability to predict quantum events is due to our lack of understanding of the laws of physics), most contend that nature is truly random and all particles only exists in some sort of super-position state (When the agents doge bullets, they seem to take on a kind of ethereal "super-position state" as well). The odd feature of a super-position state is that it appears to actually exist in all of the possible states until the moment it is observed. Einstein was one of the proponents of the hidden variable theory, and expressed his dislike of the zany theory of quantum mechanics by saying “god does not play dice”. Einstein and some of his colleagues tried to argue against the absurdity of quantum physics and suggested the EPR experiment as proof against it. However, a mathematician named John Bell came up with a way to actually test the EPR experiment, and in recent years several attempts have been made. These experiments use John Bell’s inequalities to test whether or not quantum events truly lack physical concreteness until they are directly measured. The results of all these experiments aren’t always consistent, but most suggest that the various phenomenons associated with “quantum weirdness” are truly random and remain so until the moment they are forced into one position or another by observation.

But this “quantum weirdness” does not only apply to events at the quantum level. Thought experiments such as Schrödinger’s Cat suggest that these random events do have an effect on macroscopic world. If these quantum events can alter the world around us, that pretty much destroys classical physic’s hope of a deterministic universe. All of which is good news for the “Architect” (or “god”), because if the universe ran like clockwork, it wouldn’t be very interesting to watch.

Another interesting feature of the quantum world, as it relates to the Matrix, is that energy only comes in discrete packets of a minimum size, or quanta. Electromagnetic energy only can come as multiples of a certain value known as Planck’s Constant (6.626x10-34 Joule Seconds). To put this is computer terms, the universe is integer based. This is interesting since if the world really were nothing more than a computer generated mirage, an Integer-based system would be more efficient than a floating-point one. Considering the volumes of information contained within the matrix, efficiency would be a primary concern. A floating point calculation takes more processing time, so It’s no wonder that the programmers of the universe decided to declare the variable E (energy) as an Integer. Or to put it more precisely, the universe is a 3-dimensional Integer array (or Matrix) running through a program which gives it the appearance of the 4th dimension. And according to relativity, a person's measurement of time slows down the faster they are moving. I guess all that extra processing slows the system down...

But actually, super-string theory suggests that there are more than the 3 spatial dimensions we normally see. It states that there actually 9, 10 or even 26 spatial dimensions. These extra dimensions are said to be curled up small that only superstrings are small enough to interact with them. But this is not a problem for our computer model. To put this in computer terms, these dimensions can be considered as private fields of the energy class...

But perhaps I’m taking this analogy a little too far. To get back to the issue of choice...

The Architect told Neo that the first incarnation of the Matrix was a “harmony of mathematical precision” and he explained that it was precisely because of this fact that is ended up as a “monumental failure”. This is why it was decided, he explained, that each person should be given a choice. He explained that people may not be aware of this choice, but it is necessary in order for humans to "accept the program". In effect, a hint of “randomness” was added to the system.

There are a few clues that the writers had this idea in mind. Notice that the beginning of the second movie begins with a “matrix” view of a clock? All those gears moving in perfect mathematical precision... This is the clockwork view of the world under classical Newtonian physics. It's the belief that "god" may have set up the original conditions of the universe, but that it now uses the laws of physics to run. According to this view, one can then use those mathematical functions to describe (and predict) everything in the universe. This is why the oracle can predict the future. This is what allowed Agent Smith to tell the Lieutenant at the beginning of the first movie, "No... Your men are already dead." In a sense they already were. Once events set off on a certain course, everything that followed can then be predicted. In the second movie the Merovingian sums up the idea of classical physics when he discusses causality... There is only one constant... one universal. It is the only real truth. Causality. Action, Reaction. Cause and Effect.

Morpheus takes issue with this, by stating "everything begins with choice". In a quantum sense, he was right. Events at the quantum level don’t seem to have any cause. There is only a probability that one or another action might occur. So in a sense, everything does start with a choice, albeit an apparently random one. So the question for us in the “real world” is this – can this random behavior be equated with “free will”? Unless you believe that “consciousness” can affect quantum events, the answer would seem to be “No”. Of course, you are free to make up your own mind...

...but we already know what you are going to think, don’t we?







Revolution

On a more basic level, The Matrix is the story of a revolution. A story that starts with one person, Thomas Anderson. Mr. Anderson realizes that there is “something wrong” with the world, but he is unsure of exactly what that something is. He is helped along by others, who have already figured out what that something is, but are unable to do anything about it.

Morpheus offers Mr. Anderson a choice between the “Blue pill” and the “red pill.” It is like the choice explained in the song “White Rabbit”…

“One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small…”

The pills represent the choice between remaining part of the system and fighting against it. The blue pill brings comfort, but the red pill brings death. Mr. Anderson chooses the red pill, which “disrupts his carrier signal” and allows him to escape from the Matrix. (This also sounds like a reference to recreational drugs such as LSD, which disrupt your brain's normal operation, and (as some would argue) allow you to “see the world as it really is”. But I won’t go there...)

After Neo is unplugged from the system, he is finally able to see the system for what it really is. This brings us to one of the sillier concepts of the movie. It is said that the machines keep humans around as some sort of power generator. Given the fact that a nuclear reactor would yield far more energy, one must wonder why the machines need humans at all.

I hope that the last movie comes up with a better explanation than this. It would be more believable if we were to discover that the machines need humans for their minds, rather than simply for their heat output. Life as a machine would probably be extremely boring, so perhaps it could be that they need humans in order to make their existence interesting. Maybe the machines need humans for their creativity. Maybe the machines just don’t want to be alone in the universe. Or maybe the machines need humans because their original programming directs them to ‘serve’ humans, and they are simply fulfilling that directive. Anything would be better than the battery explanation.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be analyzing the copper-top idea in such a literal manner. It may just be that the writers simply chose the battery reference to express the idea that humans are nothing more cogs in a machine. Humans are used by the system for their labor (energy), and then thrown away. The Matrix exists to keep all of the little cogs in order, and if a battery were to reverse its polarity (start working against the system), the agents of the system exist to make sure the offending individual is removed.


After Neo is freed from the system, his fellow rebels begin his “combat Training”. Their goal is to create a force which can finally stand face to face with the agents of the system. Up until this time, Morpheus’ band of rebels have been forced to hide in the shadows. The could do little more than free each person one at a time, and they realized that there is no way to free everybody (We never free a mind once it reaches a certain age...) Neo’s task is to act as some sort of revolutionary army, or most likely, as a revolutionary leader who will be able to convince the masses to rise up against the system and overthrow it.

At the end of the first film, Neo is successful in his first goal. He is able to stand his ground against the agents. But he doesn’t merely kill them, as this is a pointless task since others would instantly take their place. Instead, he gets inside them and changes them. It is akin to a great revolutionary leader realizing that the troops in front of him are not really the enemy. Killing them will not destroy the system. It is better to convert them to your side. As Sun Tzu stated in The Art of War....

Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

This brings us to a common problem faced by revolutions. Just because you convince the agents (military) to fight against the system, there is no guarantee that they will necessarily fight for you. Many revolutions have been followed by military dictatorship. And agent Smith’s “transformation” is a symbol of this threat. Neo was able to convince Agent Smith to no longer “obey” the system, but, as is apparent in the 2nd movie, he does not wish to aid in Neo’s ascendancy either.

In truth, it appears that the thing that bothers Smith the most is that he may no longer have a system to protect. The world his full of people like agent Smith ... people that wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they didn't have the power that comes from protecting some sort of system of control. And as Morpheus puts it... "If you are not one of us, you are one of them".

It is also explained that nearly 99% of the inhabitants of the Matrix accept its programming. This number seems to jive with the real world, where true political dissent is confined to an extremely small portion of the population. In the last election presidential election 96.3% of the American population voted for the two major parties, and 98.4% voted for the top three (the three candidates which received a significant amount of attention from the national media). This means that only 1.6% of the population had enough interest politics to select a candidate from outside the mainstream. This demonstrates an astonishing acceptance of the status quo, especially when you consider how similar the platforms of the two primary candidates actually were. The Bush budget differed from Gore's by only a couple percentage points. And when you consider that most of Bush tax breaks wouldn't occur until after his 4-year term had expired, there really wasn't much of a difference at all. The only real difference between them was concerning a handful of social issues, but most of those really don't have any effect of the basic structure of power in this country. They're merely questions of taste. It's like being given the choice between Bush's Coke, Gore's Pepsi, and Ralph Nader's Tab. People just aren't aware that they could have had a V8!!

The Merovingian summed it up fairly well when he remarked, "Choice is an illusion created between those with power, and those without."


We also learn in the 2nd movie that Neo is not the first person to successfully fight against the system.

“There were five ones before me?...”

This expresses the idea that all revolutions inevitably end up in failure. Just when Neo thinks he has finally won his battle against the system, he is presented with yet another choice. The Architect explains that there are two doors. The door on the left leads back to the Matrix (a retreat), and the door on the right leads to the source – the seat of all power and control. Behind this last door, as it is explained, Neo will select 23 inhabits of the matrix to rebuild Zion. The Matrix will then be Reloaded, and the whole struggle will start over again.

This brings up another problem that faced by all revolutions. Once the revolutionaries take control of “The system”, they in effect become the system. They may create a system which is different than the one that preceded it, but it will still be a system of control none-the-less. All one can wish for is that this new system is better than the one before it.

If there’s a new way, I’ll be the first in line. But it better work this time.

But humanity can breathe a sigh of relief. Neo saw this cycle and had no intention on perpetuating it. He had no desire of failing as the five before him had. Neo retreated back to the Matrix and set out to find another way. We’ll just have to wait until the 3rd movie to see if he’s successful.






Other Random Thoughts
Zion- (Word comes from the name of the Jewish Homeland) Just as Winston Smith discovers that O’Brien is part of the system and that the resistance is staged by the government so they can control both sides of the coin, I wouldn’t be surprised if the third movie reveals that this is part of the Matrix as well. (This is a nineteen eighty-four site after all, so I feel compelled to mention it at least once) The architect reveals that all the previous Zions were created by the system, so I would not be surprising if Zion was also a computer-generated reality.

Neo – The “new” guy.
Morpheus – The one who “Morphs” neo
Trinity – The third permanent member of the trinity. (Trinity hacks the IRS(fictional)

Of course, the writers felt the need to offset their white-male main character with a female and a black guy. Most modern media attempts this sort of forced equality, but maintaining this perfect equality seldom looks natural. (Which kind of defeats the purpose, I think) Actually, it appears that most of Zion's inhabitants are black. Which is odd, considering that most hackers are not.


Agents – Protectors of the system. They take on the appearance of secret service agents. It is said that anybody still “plugged in” to the system can become an agent. This is akin to saying that anybody who doesn’t realize that there’s “something wrong with the world” will do anything to protect the system that subjugates them.


The Architect – An obvious reference to the “Great Architect” of the Masons. Taken more generally, he appears to be some sort of “god” figure. The Architect is a god of mathematical precision, and completely omnipotent.

The Oracle – An entity which possesses the ability to see the future. It was she that realized that “choice” had to be integrated into the system. If the Architect is to be considered “god”, the oracle might be interpreted as “Satan”. The Oracle and Architect may appear to be in opposition to one another, but, just as God & Satan are both element of Christianity, the Architect and the Oracle are likewise both parts of the same system of control. The Architect suggests that the purpose of the oracle is to steer Neo down the proper path when he explains that the existence of the one is "not unexpected and therefore not beyond a measure of control." The oracle suggest this herself when asked by Neo if she is just "another kind of control", to which she responds that "there's no way if you can really know if I'm here to help you or not".

Another way to view the two characters, as I stated above, are as symbols of the battle between classical and quantum physics. The Architect represents perfect mathematical precision (perfect, yet predictable, and therefore predetermined and stale), whereas the oracle represents the unpredictable quantum universe (Sloppy and unpredictable, and therefore much more interesting to observe)

The Merovingian – A line of French kings, supposedly descended from Jesus Christ. ( http://www.21stcenturyradio/merovingian-twyman.htm )
The Keymaker - The keymaker (holy Grail) is protected by the Merovingian (Knights Templar)
Persephone - Daughter of Demeter and Zeus, and bride of Hades.
Ghost -


Ripped-Off Themes
Alice in wonderland – The white rabbit, the looking glass
Dune – Neo, the Kwisatz Haderach!
Wizard of Oz - We're off to see the Oracle...
The Bible – Neo is our savior. (The white rabbit's boyfriend referred to him as "My Savior... my own personal Jesus Christ) He was betrayed by cypher, then he rose from the dead. He later meets god (the Architect) and is given the chance to go through the door on his right and join the source (sit at his right hand side)



Previous Versions
1 - A perfect World... a Garden of Eden
2 - The land of Myths and Legends...
3 - ???
4 - ???
5 - ???
6 - Neo's 20th century




Numbers

Considering that the Matrix is nothing more that a world of numbers, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the numbers actually shown in the movie. Being a fan of Nineteen Eighty-Four I find it intersting to see the prevelence of the number 101 (as in room 101 of the Ministry of Love). But perhaps that's just me.

And BTW... 1984 in Binary is "11111000000"...



The phone number shown at the beginning of the first movie is (3x2)555-0690. The second digit of the area code is not shown on screen, so this means that the area code is either 312 (Downtown Chicago Illinois(in the loop)) or 352 (Gainesville Florida area). (The Wachowskis are from Chicago, so we can guess which it is.) The date and time of the phone call is 2-19-98 13:24:18

Trinity's room number at the "Heart O' the City" hotel is 303. (101 x 3)

The Agent's license plate reads 70858.

Neo's Apartment number is 101.

While Neo sleeps, an issue of "The Courier Press" appears on his computer screen. It is Volume 32, No 69.

Neo wakes up (late for work) at 9:18

The name of Neo's software company is Metacortex. When the building is shown on screen, you can see 13 floors.

The reference number of Neo's "FBI" file is 3809940TA. It was last updated 07-22-1998

With the addition of Neo, the Nebuchadnezzar has 9 members. In binary that's 1001.

Cypher has been "unpluged" from the Matrix for 9 years.

The license plate of their black car is AA034. If this is read as a hex number, it translates in decimal to 696372, and in binary to 10101010000000110100. if 69-63-72 is read as hex ASCII codes it reads "icr", one letter off from "icq", which probably doesn't mean a thing...

When Neo visits the oracle, the clock on the wall reads 6:42.

When Neo and Trinity are trying to save Morpheus, they stop the elevator on level 41, and climb to level 42. Anyone that is familiar with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy should be familiar with significance of the number 42. In binary, the number 42 is 101010.

While Neo is running from the agents, he crashes into an apartment occupied by two old ladies. The apartment number is 3C.

The room where Neo is shot by Smith is room 303. This is the same room Trinity occupied in the beginning of the movie.

Neo's phone call at the end of the first movie takes place 9-18-99 14:32:21, which means the first movie spans exactly 19 months (To be more precise, there were 576 days, 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 3 seconds between the two calls... in case you were wondering). If you divide 576 by 1, by 8, by 3, you get 24...



When Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity visit the Merovingian, you can see the number 101 in the background (room 101?). If 101 is read as binary, it is the number 5 (4+0+1). There are 5 people sitting at the table in the next scene - The Merovingian, Persephone, Trinity, Morpheus, and Neo. (And BTW... the first time we see the number 101 is at Neo's apartment when the 5-person "white rabbit crew" comes to visit.)

3 Objectives. 3 Captains. 3 Ships...

They must take out the power to 27 city blocks before they enter the source. 27 is 3^3, or 11011 in binary.

When trinity hacks the power plant, she sets the password to Z1ON0101

The IP address of the system she hacked is 10.2.2.2. It is intersting to note that trinity uses a real hacking tool when she hacks the power plant. She uses a port scanner called NMAP to find that the SSH port is open, then uses a exploit in SSH to hack the system.

Neo has 314 seconds before the conection to the "source" is lost. (Pi is 3.14)

The Architect is on the 65th floor. (In binary, 65 is 1000001)

Neo must choose 23 people to rebuild Zion. What is special about the number 23?... 23 is the 10th prime number, but that's about all I can come up with. Of course, if you include Neo, the new Zion would have 24 inhabitants. 24 backwards is 42... but that's a bit of a stretch as well. Neo must pick 7 males and 16 females, and I don't see the significance of that either.

The Heart o' the City Hotel is located at Wabash & Lake. This is an intersection in Downtown Chicago.


Do any chicago residents happen to know if there's a hotel there?

Then again, I only live three hours away from chicago ... maybe some day I'll go there myself and find out.

UPDATE: - I made the trip...
When your're driving down Lake Street, Wabash is the spot where you come out of the "Matrix" of the elevated subway.

The words on the Nebuchadnezzar plaque:
Nebuchadnezzar
Mark III No 11
Made in the USA
Year 2069
...and in case you were wondering, Mark 3:11 reads, And whenever the unclean spirits beheld him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." ... just in case you're into that sort of thing.


**UPDATE**
The words on the Logos plaque:
LogoS
Mark XIV No 14
Made in the USA
Year 2101
...and again, for all you religious nuts out there, Mark 14:14 reads "and wherever he enters, say to the householder, 'The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?" Not much significance here ... but it is interesting that we find another occurrence of the number 101, in the year "2101".




Neo uses a hollowed out book to store disks. The book is Simulacra and Simulation, by Jean Baudrillard. When Neo opens the book to get to its contents, the opposite page reads "On Nihilism".

The other two agents are named Agent Brown and Agent Jones.

"Comprehension is not a prerequisite of cooperation." - Councillor West (played by Dr. Cornel West)

"That's how it is with people... Nobody cares how it works as long as it works." - Councillor Hamann




One thing that is noticeably missing from the movies is, what is the general population’s response to all these people flying around destroying buildings and killing policemen en masse? One can imagine that the only explanation available would be to describe them as Terrorist, which, considering current political climate, explains why the films omit it completely. The notion that the "good guys" are terrorists is only suggested once when agent Smith refers to morpheus as a "known terrorist... the most dangerous man alive". But this was in the first movie, which was realeased in 1999 (and was before 911)


One final question. Who the hell is that guy being escorted away from the Merovingian?


Jesus?... A Knights Templar?.... A Programmer?... One of the previous "ones"?... Guess I'll just have to wait until November 5th to find out.


Chris Schuler
www.newspeakdictionary.com
October 9th, 2003



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