Pre-Matrix Discussion Question Extravaganza



Pre-Matrix Discussion Question Extravaganza

1. Reality (you are going to find many different interpretations, please list a few)

1.the state or quality of being real. 2.resemblance to what is real. 3.a real thing or fact.

4.real things, facts, or events taken as a whole; state of affairs: the reality of the business world; vacationing to escape reality. 5.Philosophy. a.something that exists independently of ideas concerning it.

b.something that exists independently of all other things and from which all other things derive.

6.something that is real. 7.something that constitutes a real or actual thing, as distinguished from something that is merely apparent.

2. Epistemology

a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.

• What is knowledge? How is knowledge acquired? What do people know? How do we know what we know?

3. Simulacra and Simulation (what is this book about?) Jean Baudrillard

Simulacra and Simulation is most known for its discussion of images, signs, and how they relate to the present day. Baudrillard claims that modern society has replaced all reality and meaning with symbols and signs, and that the human experience is of a simulation of reality rather than reality itself. The simulacra that Baudrillard refers to are signs of culture and media that create the perceived reality; Baudrillard believed that society has become so reliant on simulacra that it has lost contact with the real world on which the simulacra are based.

4. Descartes’ Brain-in-a-Vat Theory (what does he argue?)

This argument is a contemporary version of the argument given by Descartes in Meditations on First Philosophy (which he eventually rejects) that he could not trust his perceptions on the grounds that an evil demon might, conceivably, be controlling his every experience. It is also more distantly related to Descartes' argument that he cannot trust his perceptions because he may be dreaming. Since, in principle, it is impossible to rule out your being a brain in a vat, you cannot have good grounds for believing any of the things you believe; you certainly cannot know them.

5. Story of Nebuchadnezzar I and II (of biblical fame)

Was a ruler of Babylon in the Chaldean Dynasty, who reigned c. 605 BC – 562 BC. According to the Bible, he conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and sent the Jews into exile. He is credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. He is featured in the Book of Daniel and is also mentioned in several other books of the Bible. Nebuchadnezzar II was the eldest son, and successor, of Nabopolassar, who delivered Babylon from its dependence on Assyria and laid Nineveh in ruins.

Morpheus's hovercraft is called the Nebuchadnezzar. (Nebo was the Babylonian God of Wisdom.) In the Bible, Nebuchadnezzar was a Babylonian king who searched for the meaning of his dreams while Morpheus seeks out an Oracle to interpret reality--which is really a dream.

6. The name Anderson: what does the name mean? Who else is sometimes called this? What would the name Neo Anderson mean (Greek)?

Son of Man; New

7. Who was Morpheus?

In Greek mythology, Morpheus is the God of dreams. In the movie, he is the leader of the rebel forces who fight to awaken humans from a dreamlike reality called The Matrix.

8. List these on the back: Look up the terms Zion, Cypher, and Matrix

Zion: Palestine as the Jewish homeland and symbol of Judaism; Heaven as the final gathering place of true believers.

Cypher: Having no quantity or magnitude. Refers to something of no value or importance.

Matrix: something that constitutes the place or point from which something else originates, takes form, or develops: The Greco-Roman world was the matrix for Western civilization. Mathematics. a rectangular array of numbers, algebraic symbols, or mathematical functions, esp. when such arrays are added and multiplied according to certain rules.

Trinity: father, son and the holy ghost

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