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Simulations in Media

Since universal simulations/simulated realities aren't a real thing (yet), it's important that I look into different depictions of simulations in media to inform my own ideas. The things I'm going to be looking for specifically are:
 
  • What is the story/context around the simulation?
  • Who/what created the simulation? How?
  • What are the inhabitants like?
  • What is the purpose of the simulation?
  • What is the world like outside of the simulation?
  • Can the simulation be manipulated? Are there any glitches or exploits?
  • Do they address god? How?
  • How does the simulation 'look'?
  • How does it inspire me?
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I'm also going to be putting together audio and visual resources together that inspire me within this context specifically. 
The Matrix, 1999
What is the story/context around the simulation?
  • The majority of the film takes place within the simulation, which is called the Matrix. 
  • The story revolves around a computer hacker known by his codename as 'Neo' and his journey within and outside of the Matrix. 
  • Neo is contacted by a mysterious person through his computer, and discovers a woman named Trinity who works with another enigmatic person named Morpheus, who is somewhat of a cult-hero amongst hackers.
  • Neo meets up with Morpheus, who reveals to Neo that the world he lives in is actually a simulation, and that his experiences aren't actually 'real'.
    • Morpheus reveals that the world was overcome by AI a long time ago, and, to sustain themselves, used human beings as a fuel source to power themselves. To prevent themselves ever losing  their fuel, they created a simulation in which humans would be kept within. The Matrix is simply '​the world pulled over your eyes'. 
    • Neo is terrified and denies this revelation, but eventually begins to accept it. ​​
  • Morpheus takes Neo to break free of the simulation, which is a success. Neo's real body however, is incredibly weak and underdeveloped since it has never actually engaged in any real activities. His eyes have never opened, his muscles have never stretched, and he has never actually breathed real air. 
    • Neo is fed information directly into his brain that allows him to fight with incredibly high levels of skill. Trinity and the crew speak with Neo about how all information can be nigh-instantly given to Neo through a connector on the back of his 'real' head. ​
    • Neo is taught by Morpheus that the things limiting him are not his muscles, his sight, or his dexterity, but instead his mind: 'free your mind'. Doing so allows Neo to achieve incredible feats, such as dodging bullets, jumping incredibly high, and punching through concrete. 
    • Morpheus ensures that Neo is aware that 'The body cannot live without the mind'. Death within the Matrix will kill you in the real world. 
  • The remainder of the story is effectively about Neo developing and honing his understanding of reality and the Matrix, and eventually comes to an epiphany in which he finally cracks the Matrix. His abilities increase tenfold, and he becomes able to surpass even the power of the AI that patrol the simulation. 
What are the inhabitants like?
  • Just like the simulations in Prey and Outer Wilds, the inhabitants of the Matrix are, simply put, normal people. There isn't anything particularly remarkable about the inhabitants, since they are regular humans simply uploaded to a simulation. 
    • Those aware of the Matrix seem to be much more apathetic and depressive as far as I saw - they never seemed to crack a smile, laugh or engage in any activities for pleasure (outside of the kiss between Neo and Trinity at the end). It seems like carrying the knowledge of a fake reality weighs heavily on the consciense of those aware of it, making their lives less happy. One of Morpheus' crew even betrays them simply in exchange for the AI to erase his knowledge and memories of the Matrix and the 'real' world: 'ignorance is bliss'. 
    • The Agents seem to lack any sort of human emotion, and act totally according to logic. They completely disregard the suffering they may cause, which seems to be mostly a survival intinct. They are aware that if they let the 'infection' get to them, they run a greater risk of humans breaking free and causing harm to the AI in the real world. They do seem to take some sort of pleasure in harming their enemies however, as one Agent states that he would 'enjoy [to] see you [Neo] die'.
What is the purpose of the simulation?
  • The sole purpose of the simulation is to keep humans subdued and under control. The AI controlling the real world require a fuel source, and humans are the most renewable and accessible, thus they plug all living humans into the Matrix in order to use them as fuel without hinderance. 
Who/what created this simulation? How?
  • An AI known as 'The Architect' created the Matrix itself. The Architect however was designed by other machines, and modelled as a human in order to better understand human nature.
  • The Architext's soul purpose is to design a simulation that can sustain human society indefinitely, without risking societal collapse and, in turn, loss of fuel for the machines. 
  • The Architect initially designed the Matrix to be a utopia without strife, but found that this type of society could not be sustained since humanity rejected it. 
    • The second attempt added some of the 'vulgarities' of human nature, as well as cause and effect, but this also failed. ​
    • The Architect's third attempt took a much more 'human' approach to the design - it added the freedom of choice to the Matrix, giving humans a semblance, or at least the facade of control. 
      • The Architect discovered that this freedom of choice also created the risk of an 'anomaly' forming, whereby someone ('The One', aka Neo) would discover the true nature of the Matrix, and come to destroy it. Knowing the inevitability of the anomaly, The Architect decides to bargain with them at each iteration, which it has succeeded at for all five iterations until Neo. He knows Neo will not comply - but still ends up reloading a fresh iteration of the Matrix through Neo's sacrifice in erasing the virus, Smith. ​
What is the world like outside of the simulation?
  • The world outside of the Matrix is mechanical and void of natural life - it is overwhelmingly grey, dingey and gloomy, painting a highly dystopian picture. 
  • Sentinel robots constantly patrol the area, seeking out rogue humans outiside of The Martrix.
  • Rogue humans tuck themselves away in crevices to avoid sentinel detection, but their lives outside of the Matrix seems particularly boring and monotonous. 
    • The only civilisation humanity has outside of the Matrix is Zion, a city deep beneath the Earth that houses hundreds of thousands​. Zion was supposedly designed by the Architect as a society 'expecting a massiah', which would be The One. The One's journey to The Architect is necessary for the Matrix to be reloaded and iterated, so Zion is made to assist in that journey. Zion consists of three primary layers:
      • ​The docks - a heavily armed and fortified section that allows for outsiders and citizens to go in and out, and is the first line of defence against machine attacks. 
      • The living layer - a layer that provides homes and facilities for all of Zion's inhabitants.
      • The machine layer - a layer of machinery designed to facilitate Zion with things such as waste management, water filtration and electrical power.  
Can the simulation be manipulated? Are there any glitches/exploits?
  • Deja Vu is actually explained as a glitch in The Matrix. It occurs when 'something is changed' in the Matrix, and usually manifests as something occuring the exact same way twice, almost akin to how lag in a game can make you snap back to where you were before the connection dropped. The example given in the film is that Neo sees a cat walk past a doorway and meow twice the exact same way twice in succession. Morpheus' crew immediately know this is a problem when Neo mentions it, as it is a warning sign that Smith agents may be tracking them and closing in.
  • Agent Smith was initially an agent of the Matrix, specifically designed as a sort of 'police force'. However, after being destroyed by Neo, Smith manifested as a virus. Smith used to be able to travel quickly by temporarily possessing people within the Matrix, but lost this once Neo had destroyed him. However, he gained the ability to assimilate and permantly overwrite anyone who he could physically interact with, much like a virus would. 
  • The Matrix has rules that can be stretched extremely far as long as an individual knows how. The scenes where Morpheus trains Neo to 'free your mind' exemplify this, where Neo stretches the rules around the Matrix to give him high strength, speed, reflexes and more intelligence, without even touching the code or using any exploits. 
  • Humans are capable of manipulating the Matrix from the outside, as proven by Mouse when he speaks about having made a training program that Morpheus and Neo partake in. Morpheus' crew are also able to take advantage of 'loading areas' which can have objects loaded into them, where they can then be taken directly into the Matrix. Neo uses this to take a large arsenal of weaponry into the Matrix to save Morpheus. 
Do they address god? How?
  • God as a concept isn't really addressed in The Matrix. The structuring of the Matrix is more in line with more terrestrial hierarchies than anything holy - the Smith agents and those in control of the simulation are simply programmed to be more powerful/have freed their mind of limitations. There is nothing divine going on here. 
How does the simulation 'look'?
  • The Matrix is superficially realistic, and is designed to simply look like the real world. 
  • The Matrix ACTUALLY looks like green, vertically cascading sequences of code that can be interpreted as long as one understands its language. 
  • The Matrix can effectively look like anything within its rules and limitations - the world can appear as white and empty, and one could summon any object into the simulation from the outside. 
How does it inspire me?
  • The idea of being able to implant memories, experiences and information directly into ones brain is really fascinating to me; the simulated individual can carry this information into real world too. 
  • The existentialism that arises from Neo discovering his whole life is fake is a really interesting plot point to me, I think there's a lot of potential to play with this idea in terms of game concepts.
  • I enjoyed how the overwhelming majority of the film had green tints and large amounts of darker shadowy environments as it really emphasised how ominous and mysterious the superficial layers of the Matrix are, how there is something wrong, something to be revealed. The green seems to fade away once the facade is pulled back, with blue seemingly becoming the more dominant colour. It is a great way of giving information to the viewer without really having to think about it.  
  • I like the idea of the simulation being used as a form of control in this context, as it opens up the debate whether its even a bad thing living within a simulation. As Cypher states: 'ignorance is bliss', people who have experienced the real world would rather forget about it than overcome the machines. A lot of discussion can be made on the morality and ethics behind the relationship between man and AI, as well as simulated and simulator. 
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