The Matrix a Film by Hilary Putman

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Senses: The Reality of Experiencing the World
In 1999, Hilary Putnam, a modern American philosopher, created a megahit movie called The Matrix. This movie was created to explain Putnam’s perception of the problem of skepticism and society’s knowledge of reality. Putnam presented an idea that could completely alter and destroy the thoughts of the human race, if it was true. The thought experiment behind the movie consisted of our brains being severed from all the nerves connected to sensory inputs connected to a giant computer. The computer is controlled by a man that sits at the keyboard of this super computer to input data. As a result, this data is transformed to the brain and processes information as if it were obtained through one’s senses. In conclusion, the brain believes what it experiences, even if the man at the monitor determines what the individual should experience. Although Putnam’s idea became popular, Putnam was not the first philosopher to suggest that there could be a problem with seeing and understanding reality.
In addition to The Matrix, the works of two other philosophers must be considered when thinking on this topic- Plato’s classic work The Republic and Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy. First, we must observe the basis of the recent perception of the idea. The Matrix reveals that knowledge can be overbearing for one to handle alone. As a result, some individuals desire to be ignorant to truth. Some believe “Ignorance is bliss” (Wachowski, 1999, pg. 1). In The Matrix, Neo realizes that he has been living in a dream his whole life. “The Matrix” is the computer program that has controlled him and the entire human race his entire life. Morpheus, who is “a leader of a group of dissidents who ar...

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...kewise to be contrary to his goodness to allow me to be occasionally deceived; and yet it is clear that this is permitted (1951, pg. 3).” In other words, it depends on our perception of the real Creator, God, when observing if we can be certain that our beliefs are true. John 14:6 states, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (KJV). Jesus is truth. When we believe in Him and act accordingly, we can be certain that our beliefs are true. Therefore, the only way to be certain that one’s beliefs are true is if they are in Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

References
Descartes, R., & Lafleur, L. J. (1951). Meditations on first philosophy. New York: Macmillan.
Wachowski, Andy, and Lana Wachowski. (1999). The Matrix. Directed by Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski. Los Angeles: Warner Bros. Pictures

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