Paper 6

Brahyan Cuervo
DR. Smith:
ENG 101/103, LIB 110
Living in the Matrix

What makes up my life? I believe I do live in the matrix only for one reason. My everyday routine is based on a series of boundaries. Like in previous films watched in Dr. Smith’s class I have came to a conclusion that we have a similarity to plugging into machines. In the book the matrix and philosophy, Nixon explains the idea of the possibility of being in the matrix. “It’s possible that I am (or you are) in the matrix right now.”(36) Through a series of arguments I will explain how networks and boundaries make up are everyday life making us a cyborg.
Boundaries things we feel that make us feel comfortable. Like in a comfort zone we
believe nothing can penetrate it or disrupt it. In Me++ by William J. Mitchell changes the perspective on how to look at our everyday utilities. “I consist of a biological core surrounded by extended, constructed systems of boundaries and networks.”(7) Like in the movie the matrix the real world was Neo boundarie and his network was his night life as a hacker. Mitchell also believes that networks are vulnerable to any type of disruption. For example as I plug into my iPod not finding my headphones automatically disrupts my routine, making me late for the bus, being late for class and etc. in the movie Sleep Dealer Memo is trying to reach a new networked life by moving away from home. The boundary in which he once saw nothing past was destroyed when the machine he built to away his father’s life.

In school I was taught the law of physics. What goes up must come down. The matrix and me++ defines everything that I once thought wasn’t possible making it into a possibility. Is there another world where we can plug in through use of machines? In the movie the matrix neo was found by a Group hacker to save the last human race. The only way to this was to be plugged in himself to this artificial world were nothing was reality nor believable. In this world a person can do anything only saw in science fiction films. I am similar to that world because my network consists of electronics. The only thing I don’t use technology is to do outside activities, sports, walking and etc. we have evolved from humans to a world controlled by technology. We are not doing anything to stop it; on the contrary we are learning how to cope with these machines.

Mitchell says “by programming robotic devices I can precisely specify their future actions.”(21) We program machines to follow are every instruction. What happens when that action is denied and starts acting on its own. That’s what happened in the movie the matrix they built machines to a point where they had a mind of its own. Were they felt they didn’t need human assistance anymore. At this point of my life I feel that I’m like those machines I am a step away from becoming independent from my parents. Right now my boundary is home and my network is everything I do in it. My life is similar to the film the Truman Show, he was raised to believe there was nothing past his everyday life. They created a world with boundaries for Truman that he couldn’t disrupt even if he tried. When he found out he was living a lie for almost 30 years he wanted to disrupt his network by exploring what was outside the made up world.

Anything I do is based on techonology in one way or another. Making me a cyborg. Anyone who beliefs there not a cyborg must live the Amish life. Till the day I won’t need technology to do the simplest of things then I can say I am not cyborg. That day will never come since technology is rapidly growing in our century. I live the networked life.

BLOG:10

doing a research paper is never easy.. i think the hardest part about it, is finding a topic. sometimes the easiest topic you can find is the most difficult. looking back at my research experience i think the most important tool to writing an A paper is time management. the solution to this problems are in the keys for writers ;-)

workshop 11/12/09

i have decided to deteriorate the tehory of 2012 according to the mayan Calendar. we would watch the film and discuss and make our own film about it

BLOG:9

soo i have no idea what to do my final project on.. still a litle confuse about what we have to do for loui and jason.. i know it can be combine but the hard part is getting the project to fir both ideas with out writing a paper or blogging about it.

i was thinking to do a documentary on the "underground city" known as the Commuter life.

i was also thinking of making another version of "paranormal acitivity"

if dat dont work out then ill juss do something on soccer

Essay 3

At this point in my life I feel that my fate is determined by parents, friends, and school. I say parents because they set all these rules we have to follow. I say friends because the first minute we decided to associate with them we knew the influence they were going bring. School is the same like parents they set all these boundaries that if we don’t follow there will be consequences so that rules out free will.

Shick argues. “if someone is forcing you to do something against your will or preventing you from doing something you want to do, you are not free.”(88) I agree. You think if we really had the choice of going to school most of us would be here? Since the time where to get a descent paying job requires a degree. Government chose are fate for us.

Like cypher in the movie argues “you call this free?” “All I do is what he tells me to do. If I have to choose f between that and the matrix I choose the matrix”. It may seem like the people gives choices to make, but either way whatever we choose were still going to have rules to follow. In the film “the matrix” Neo was giving a choice by the oracle. Either he saves his own life or chooses to save Morpheus. This really isn’t a choice because the oracle already knew what was going to happen. She made it seem like he was making the choice, but the choice was already made.

Another argument that rules out free will is god. Schick explains on page 94, if god gives us two paths with different journeys along the way for us to make the choice, but he already knows what path I’m going to take than really is my choice to make? Another argument that seems to rule out free will: in the 2nd film “the Matrix reloaded”. The 2nd meeting between Neo and the oracle, the oracle offers Neo a piece of candy. Why would she offer when she already knew that Neo was going to take it?

How can we make a choice when parents and school already made the choice for us? For example I came home from school yesterday and my mom asks “you want soup or steak?” and I clearly said steak, she had already made the soup so than why would she give me choices. She had already made the choice for me.

The choices we make in life have consequences and those consequences are the ones that determine our fate. Whether we make the choice or not both roads will have the same fate. Even if we try to avoid the inevitable your fate would always be the same.

BLOG:8

Physical boundaries, Network and time

Here we go. I would say the most important boundary is school, my room, followed by Tully soccer field, and my favorite restaurants. When I wake up for school every morning I hit the shower; the soap and the shampoo I use, to the Colgate toothpaste I use to brush my teeth. When I get to my room I use my Bvlgari cologne. My personal jewelry from earrings to bracelets. I don’t really wear a lot of layers no matter how cold it is because I feel very uncomfortable. Every morning I choose the sneakers that go with my attire. Another boundary that defines me as a person is the place I was born Cali Colombia where I’m hoping to spent Christmas and new years. Of course another boundary where; I was raised Queens New York. Then the things I consume throughout my day to keep me energize.

Networks that disorder my boundaries would definitely be waking up for school. Making that walk to my bathroom and especially when they forget to turn the heater on. When sometimes the last person to finish the toothpaste forgets to open a new one. When I can’t find anything to wear according to the colors of my sneakers. The flight tickets for the Christmas vacation are always high so maybe I won’t make the trip. Since my dad lives in jersey every other weekend I have to leave my comfort zone and take on new adventures in a different state.

Time structures that dictate the regularity of my everyday existence would be the schedule for school. The time I take my everyday nap and the time I do my homework.

BLOG : 7

Reflection:

This project I felt like I over stressed it a lil bit too much. Maybe because I didn’t take enough time to get well prepared. The next time in school where I get a project like this I won’t wait to last minute to get started. I would do my power point exactly the way it is. Doing the power point was the best process of the midterm. The hard part was getting the last few pages of my paper done. For the final project im going to stay more hours in school, because at home I really get nothing done. I won’t leave everything for last minute next time ;D. From a scale 1-10 I would give myself a 8. For the fact that I didn’t prepare well enough. On my final I would give myself a 10 cause I’m that confident=D

The Truman show

Truman Burbank is the main attraction of TV series called the Truman show. Created to film his every move ever since he was born. He was presented to this world in which he thought it was all real. Every step in his life was already planned out by the director Christof. There was no escape for Truman only because the place he lived in was surrounded by water. Truman was traumatized as young boy when his father died when they were on a boat ride. A cast member playing the role of a student in the college Truman attended thought that what Cristof was doing was totally unethical. She tried to explain to him he was on a reality series televising his life. Immediately production decided to discard her from the script. After that encounter Truman started to get this urge to travel the world and find VG. Truman started realizing that something wasn’t right that his life was the same every day. After a long fight of trying to escape Seahaven Truman has to make a choice leave the world created for entertainment, or step out and face reality.

If I was to be in Truman’s position; I think I would make the same choice he made to escape the world created by Hollywood and wonder off into the real world. And come-on he had a nice girl waiting for him =D. Is funny because after the movie. I started wondering where all the hidden cameras, started asking my classmates you guys aren’t wearing button cams. Truman was giving the opportunity to live a perfect life. In the movie the connection between christof and god is clearly established at the end when he is talking as the cloud and the sun are shadowing the voice. Christof and god are similar because both are creators of a world. Christof doesn’t have the power to determine Truman’s life after he steps out the door. Yeah I can seriously say that how I look at things now is different because of college. Especially the understanding of the movie the matrix. The Truman show is a really good movie I enjoy watching it, maybe because Jim Carrey made it so much funnier.

BLOG 5

Do you think your life is determined by a special, individual fate, or are you free to choose as you wish?

I believe we are predetermined to do something or become something is only up to us to make the choices along the way. I believe every single one of us has a purpose predetermime by god. I believe god is the only one capable to determine what is going to happen to us. For example every morning we leave our house not knowing what will happen during the day. Do you think all those people of 9/11 woke up that day knowing that it was there last morning? Schick jr. argues “If someone is forcing you to do something against your will or preventing you from doing something you want to do, you are not free.”(88) I totally agree with him and that’s why I believe I am not free at this point of my life. Especially because of my parents, they set all these rules that I have to follow =/.

Blog 4

What do they mean by the Source and Ontological status?! After reading this section Over 10 times I’m still confused of what it really means. The source is where it all begins.

Source: Matrix and Philosophy by William Erwin

The source is the place where we get all are ideas=/. Ontology is the meaning to are sources. On pg 61 Gracia and Sanford explain that “we know that machines and electrical signals are produced by humans beings born in the city of Zion come from their parents”. I think this means we do not know the ontology behind their claims. Another way to look at Ontological status and the source is: We know the Ontology to our theory then we just need to figure out the source to our claims. I believe what we use to distinguish what’s real from metaphysics is our 5 senses. Also it depends on what we believe.

Blog 3: Matrix and Philosophy

Is the matrix theory even a possibility?
How can we believe something so absurd? Well too many it may sound strange but to others may sound like a logical explanation of the world we live in. How do you know as your reading this blog you’re not in a computer generated world. It all falls down to what you believe. When we watch the movie, we say to ourselves well if were in the matrix we should be able to jump that high, run that fast, and even stop bullets from ever killing someone. Even if you do believe the matrix to be real, all your beliefs will be completely false. If we were living in the matrix would we be able to think about how the Movie or the books are really true. If so the computers would try to discard any possibilities we might have. Giving the benefit of doubt imagine the world we live in is indeed the matrix. Then everything we once ever believe in is false. The only way we will believe that anything is true is unless we encounter the situation.

How do we choose between what’s reality, and what are just simply Illusions? “To deny are impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human”. Like in pg. 45 Mouse describes the food as being something the body needs but not what the body desires. We use are 5 senses to judge reality. This is an advantage to humanity. The Only way us humans know difference between reality and an illusion is by sense of believe.

Blog:2 Matrix review

I thought the first movie was the most boring of the trilogy but now I’ve learned the work behind the movie, the point the wachowski brothers were trying to get out(are we living the matrix?). I like how the directors actually used Characters’ in the movie to match other figures in life. I need to find out the truth too. As neo in the movie I would have taken the red pill also. What if the world we believe to be earth is the matrix? I think the matrix really makes you think of how the world would be in a couple of years. We create machines or how some of you might say technology. I believe these machines one day will become smarter than the human race and overtake the world. For example in the movie “The Matrix” the machines have taken over the year 2199 because we did not treat them well. Now the last human race city Zion is at war with the machines to save the publication.

If i was in the matrix? How would I know? Which world is reality? The matrix or Zion?
Those are questions that would lead to the Socratic Method. The matrix and Socrates cave have a similarity in the way of they show us was convenient to them. Neo & Socrates they both got unclear messages from the oracle. Basically they both were chosen to free human race from enslavement . It’s all confusing to me now but in couple of weeks hopefully I would understand more of the concept “The Matrix”.

Blog:1 the Allegory of the cave

From My point of view i believe the cave is like the matrix. There are always people trying to hide what’s really going. In the cave people didn’t know anything else than what Plato/Socrates wanted them to see. Socrates cave to me is another word for our Government today. I believe the government only shows what is convenient to them.

At this point of my life i believe I’m between being chained up and walking out into the light. Like in Socrates cave the prisoner’s didnt know past what was inside the cave. In Socrates cave the people only see the shadows being casted on the blank wall, i feel like My parents are the ones casting the shadows showing me what reality is going to be like until I can stand on my own.
For me I haven’t got the real full effect of what the real world is. When the prisoners walk out into the light they get a taste of what the real world is. At the age of 17 I’m getting a taste of what i have in store for me in the future. I say I’ve only got a little taste because i really don’t have any major responsibilities like car insurance, rent, or my phone bill.