Descartes, Plato, and The Matrix: A Comparison
The Matrix, The Republic, and Meditations on First Philosophy all provide some valuable food for thought on the issues of reality and what we think we know to be true. Through their similarities and differences, we can explore some interesting perspectives on the age-old questions of “what can we know for sure if anything?” and “how do we know what we know?” As they have been, these questions will likely continue to be debated and explored for thousands of years to come.
After studying the short readings, I see similarities from all three that all stem from doubt. I personally feel that doubt is one of Satan’s strategic plans against God’s people. Nothing can conflict a persons spirit as much as doubt. In the Christians sense of spirituality, the enemy tries to throw causes and reasons to doubt God. Satan’s whole purpose is to make us question God’s Word and His goodness. Plato presents his analogy of the cave, in which inhabitants of the cave only know the limited reality with which they are presented to be true. They do not experience anything more than a small piece of the full world and, therefore, have a limited knowledge of truth and reality. The condition of life for people in The Matrix is the same. Although they do not know it, all of the people living in the Matrix are experiencing only a reality that is presented to their minds, while their physical bodies sit in vats of fluid plugged into the Matrix. They do not even bother to question whether or not their world is real because they accept what they know and what they see as their truth. Undoubtedly, we can prove through biblical teachings that the world we are experiencing is real. We can find the ultimate source of truth in the Word of God. John 1:1-4 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” We are all under the control of God …show more content…
I believe I can handle the harshness of reality because through Christ, anything is possible. The “harshness” of reality is simply the opposite of a “fantasy” world/reality. Of course everyone would want to believe that living is free and easy, but that doesn’t make it true. Too many people enjoy living in ignorance. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge” The Bible also says in Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Like our examples showed us, we cannot always rely on our own senses. Sometimes what we perceive is different than what the eyes of someone else has perceived. The only time we should be uncertain of our beliefs is if we cannot prove it or support it. However, our beliefs should never be uncertain because they are supported by the everlasting Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and
The Matrix, The Republic, and Meditations on First Philosophy all provide some valuable food for thought on the issues of reality and what we think we know to be true. Through their similarities and differences, we can explore some interesting perspectives on the age-old questions of “what can we know for sure if anything?” and “how do we know what we know?” As they have been, these questions will likely continue to be debated and explored for thousands of years to come.
After studying the short readings, I see similarities from all three that all stem from doubt. I personally feel that doubt is one of Satan’s strategic plans against God’s people. Nothing can conflict a persons spirit as much as doubt. In the Christians sense of spirituality, the enemy tries to throw causes and reasons to doubt God. Satan’s whole purpose is to make us question God’s Word and His goodness. Plato presents his analogy of the cave, in which inhabitants of the cave only know the limited reality with which they are presented to be true. They do not experience anything more than a small piece of the full world and, therefore, have a limited knowledge of truth and reality. The condition of life for people in The Matrix is the same. Although they do not know it, all of the people living in the Matrix are experiencing only a reality that is presented to their minds, while their physical bodies sit in vats of fluid plugged into the Matrix. They do not even bother to question whether or not their world is real because they accept what they know and what they see as their truth. Undoubtedly, we can prove through biblical teachings that the world we are experiencing is real. We can find the ultimate source of truth in the Word of God. John 1:1-4 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” We are all under the control of God …show more content…
I believe I can handle the harshness of reality because through Christ, anything is possible. The “harshness” of reality is simply the opposite of a “fantasy” world/reality. Of course everyone would want to believe that living is free and easy, but that doesn’t make it true. Too many people enjoy living in ignorance. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge” The Bible also says in Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Like our examples showed us, we cannot always rely on our own senses. Sometimes what we perceive is different than what the eyes of someone else has perceived. The only time we should be uncertain of our beliefs is if we cannot prove it or support it. However, our beliefs should never be uncertain because they are supported by the everlasting Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and