All I’m Offering is the Truth | The Philosophy of the Matrix

The Matrix, a science fiction film created by the Wachowskis, is probably one of the most influential movies ever made. The story starts when computer programmer Thomas Anderson, operating as a hacker under the alias “Neo,” discovers the truth about the world he’s living in, as he becomes aware of the existence of something known as “The Matrix.”

The Matrix is considered a philosophical film that contains many existing philosophical and religious themes, like prophecy, love, truth, karma, the nature of reality, and living in a simulation. But there seems to be a particularly close connection between The Matrix and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

This video (All I’m Offering Is The Truth | The Philosophy of the Matrix) is a philosophical analysis of the Matrix film. It analyses The Matrix through the lens of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave while exploring the following question: do we, as human beings, actually want the truth?

Please note: this video contains spoilers that reveal the plot.

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#thematrix #matrixphilosophy #thematrixexplained

00:00 - Intro
02:37 - The journey out of the cave
06:22 - Blind to the truth
09:25 - Rejecting a painful truth
13:30 - Suspension of disbelief
18:39 - Do we actually want the truth?

[ash]

"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." - Marcus Aurelius

[schoolofstevie]

I was having this discussion with someone yesterday. It's like we're regressing as a society. The most shocking thing is when you speak the truth people look at you as if you're insane.

[rafaelcatarino]

As a kid I loved matrix for it's innovative film making, effects, fights, sci FI. Today I love it even more because of the message.

[Sean-vhpm]

I understood most of the movie alagories, but never knew of the Plato story until now. This brings an incredible new dimension to The Matrix and the human condition. Thank you.

[joadsupreme]

“It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”

― Mark Twain

[Lakaizerina]

"The Matrix wasn't a movie, it was a documentary." - Keanu Reeves ❤️

[jackiec]

"Could it be that we fundamentally don't want the truth but a story; a story to believe in, identify with, share with others, dwell on, share with others and, perhaps most importantly, to provide us with meaning and belonging."

Very insightful. I can't help but have many of today's arguments regarding self‐identity and group identity brought to mind. The idea that many common ways people use to identify themselves or others with are a figment of one's own imagination and therefore can be changed through sheer force of will. We are becoming a society where others must agree with one's own perception of themselves, regardless of obvious evidence to the contrary. This is nothing short of madness.

[GIguy]

I know that feeling. My three best friends I have known since I was a child (I’m now 54) turned out to be my biological siblings. My parents knew, but never told me, raising me as an only child. For whatever reason they gave the other three up for adoption (I was #2, go figure that one!), and by pure coincidence those three families all moved to the same neighbourhood we lived in, without knowing it. Throughout our lives, people would always comment that the four of us looked like siblings, because we did look a lot alike. At first, we thought it was funny, but after a few years, we became suspicious. But then we graduated high school and went our separate ways to university, only to end up, coming back to the same neighbourhood to raise our families, two decades later, and we were reunited. Again, people started pointing out how much we looked alike, so we did a DNA test. We were absolutely in shock that we all have the exact same mother and father, MY mother and father. They all had adopted mothers and fathers, but didn’t know they were adopted. It was as though everything I believed in fell out from under me. We were all in complete shock, and absolutely furious with the people we called our parents. The four of us are closer than ever before knowing that we are actually siblings, but we want nothing to do with the parents that screwed us over, and lied to us our entire lives. Maybe in time we might consider forgiveness, but not right now. What they did was inexcusable! Even though we were friends, we didn’t share that special bond you get with known siblings, and while we can never get it back, we’re trying to make up for lost time, in an entirely different and new reality, one that none of us could have ever anticipated. It truly made me question if anything in my life was actually real, as it did my siblings as well. I thank God I have my siblings, but I’m just so angry at my parents for lying to me my entire life (as a teenager, I asked them several times, if my friends were actually related to me, because people were so insistent, and each time they lie to me, and said no, and told me I was just imagining things) I don’t know if I can ever forgive them for that.

[sherrilynnnelson]

When you are able to figure out when someone is lying or manipulating you it's almost like a superpower but it only comes after carefully analyzing and connecting a long series of inconsistencies

[inis]

First time I saw this as a kid I thought it was a fantastic movie. Only many years later have I understood the truth behind the movie and there is nothing that beats it. When people ask me what my favourite movie is: I always say the matrix and people tend to look down as they think of it as action movie, I only smirk back because they wouldn't understand.

[jhariej.]

" If you have to be persuaded, lied to, incentivized, coerced, bullied, socially shamed, guilt-tripped, threatened, punished and criminalized...If all of this is neccessary to gain your compliance ~ You can be absolutely certain that what is being promoted is not in your best interest "
- Ian Watson

[ScriptSleuth]

More than twenty years later, The Matrix still stands the test of time. Screenwriters can learn a lot from this brilliantly written story.

[cgmair]

Ive helped people beat depression. Basically what happens is pain and fear create a story which becomes a reality that perpetually creates pain. To break the reality you have to know that the pain and fear are not real, and you are in control of labeling your pain and fear as positive....nothing positive can hurt you. The hardest part for people is letting that idea go. Pain and fear have to be real in the brain and people will fight to keep it. That is why helping someone from rock bottom is easier. They are at a point they realize their reality is not working and are open to change. This video is right. 99% still think what we live in real. People like Ford and Carnegie really understood our Matrix

[staggeringsquids]

Man I been watching your videos for years. I actually watched this one multiple times. I appreciate all the knowledge you've given me up til now and the future.

[Dile]

"the truth is not what you want it to be. It is wat it is, and you must bend to it, or live a lie"
— Miyamoto musashi

[AwokenEntertainment]

The more time that passes, the scarier and more normal the reality of the Matrix seems

[Stevesguitartraveling]

When I look back at when the matrix came out in 1999. I was blown away of how far ahead it was of its time is it in 2024 it is still far ahead of its time. Plato’s cave is like being on our phones and social media.

[josephgross]

After watching the extras on the Matrix 4 movie. One of the menu options is to have the actors explain what the movie is about. This video explains it in the Matrix side versus the love story of Neo and Trinity. So, in conclusion you nailed it. Great job and pre congratulations on 2milion subscribers...

[tushar]

The most scary thing about chasing the truth is that all the lies that you are surrounded with will fall first .

[uchicha]

"Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable"
~ A. Camus