Blog 4

The Metaphysics of the Matrix" (55-65)--"Metaphysics" is the study of what is real and what is knowable; the term "Meta" meaning "overarching" or "all inclusive" and "physics" meaning "the study of reality". At the very simplest, then, metaphisicists try to come up with a system (a metaphysics) that explains the world that we live in and how we experience that world--how we know what is "real" from what is "imaginary". On pages 61 and 62, Gracia and Sanford us the terms "source" and "ontological status" to make distinctions that allow them to claim that the world in the Matrix is "unreal" and the world outside of the Matrix (outside of the program) is the "real world". What they heck do they mean by "source" and "ontological status"? Using whatever sources you see fit (though tell us where you looked!) come to an understanding as to what these terms mean, define these terms in your own words, and then tell us whether or not you agree with Gracia and Sanford's assessment.





What they mean by "source", they're talking about how everything started, where did all begin? On page 61 Gracia and Sanford says, "We know that machines and electrical signals are produced by humans and artificially intelligent machines. We know that human beings born in the city of Zion come from their parents. But we don't know the ultimate source of these things." Basically they are saying that where did these humans and A.I. machines come from. Who build these machines, who birth the first child? No one knows this information at all. What they mean by "ontological status", they're talking "plainly as the way things exist" (page 61 last paragraph). They base this on the dependence of each world. Gracia and Sanford says “The real world in The Matrix, as we can tell, does not depend on something else for its existence; it stands by itself. But even if there were that is even if the existence of the things in the real world were dependent on such a genie, the ontological status of the unreal world can be seen to be much weaker, much less independent than that of the real world." Basically from this quote it saying that the real world is independent, they depend on no other existence but theirselves. While the unreal world is not independent at all, they depend on another existence, which tends to be the real world. The A.I. machines live in the real world and the humans they made live in the unreal world, so the humans in the unreal world depend on the A.I. machines to give them experience in what to do. The machines tell them how to run their lives, what to eat, sleep and live. Without the A.I. machines running the unreal world, they humans in the unreal would not exist.


To me "source" means, where from. Say if information on something and your teacher asks you "What are your sources?" She's asking you where did you get your information from. It couldn't just fall from the sky and into your lap. For ontological I didn't really know the meaning of this word until I reread that section and looked it up on dictionary.com and both says it means "Of or relating to essence or the nature of being, or the nature of existence or being as such." With agreeing or disagreeing with Gracia and Sanford, I'll have to say that I disagree with what they are saying. If it wasn't for God no living creature would exist. Yet, he doesn't send electrical signals to our minds telling us what our jobs are going to be or how to live our lives. We're independent yet we are dependent. We're both we can't be either or, it’s the way the world works.