FAQ: THE MATRIX - WHY IS ZION NOT A SIMULATION?
By JonTherkildsen
Before we go on here, I would advise you to skip through my other article that summarizes what the story is actually about. It is a quick read: The Matrix Explained
A common misconception I often meet is that Zion and the real world must be another level in the Matrix because Neo exhibits powers here as well.
He does, but this is not the explanation.
The article here is a response to many such conversations.
But first, the abridged version of the story is this (Longer version here): The Oracle has a plan. She was tired of the control system. She was tired of the Matrix resetting every 70–100 years, setting up a new Zion, and building up a new “resistance”. Wash. Rinse. Repeat... dreadful. So, she wanted peace. She wanted change. To do this, she needed the Neo to choose the “wrong” door this time around when at the Architect, forcing a new approach to the control system. And she needed a Smith-Virus to cause so much trouble that The Source would strike a deal with Neo, ensuring peace between man and machine. For Neo to ever approach the Source in Machine City, he would have to have powers in the real world as well.
The moment Neo meets The Architect, his true purpose is explained to him. He is told that he is sort of one of their agents - he is not technically human. They need him to create false hope and help facilitate humans outside the Matrix in the real world (which is why this “agent” had to be biological rather than another program). He is an undercover extension of their control system, and his part is meticulously planned out from the very beginning. He is the sixth “Neo,” as it has been done five times before him.
Being an “undercover” sleeper agent, it stands to reason that they would need a connection with him (or to him), even while he is not inside the Matrix. Remember, all previously connected humans are massively augmented with connections, outlets down their spine, to their muscles, and an extensive connection into their brain. There is more to these humans than flesh and bones.
More than human ?
Neo’s power is not super magical in the real world. Ha can only do things that a neural connection to the machines would allow him to do: Shut down nearby flying Sentinels, detonate nearby missile-sentinels, and see signals when he is blinded (wifi signals?).
I submit that he was still connected to their systems, and, if so, then his real-world abilities make sense.
If you could hack the communication signals of the US Army, you too could shut down their drones and detonate missiles. And your hacking device could “see” these signals. From a certain point of view, he is not doing anything impossible.
His hacking transcended the Matrix because he was part of both the Matrix and the Machine world. The Oracle even tells Neo that he is connected to the Source in both realms.
In my view, it makes good sense that Neo has a dormant connection somehow, as he is ultimately their tool and vital for their intricate plan and control system to work. The machines need to have intelligence on his whereabouts, etc. It would be too great a risk to have someone this vital to their plan just wander around, unsuvailanced.
His real-world powers are proof that he uses this connection to his advantage. He is a hacker, after all. He is not dodging bullets or flying like Superman. These very limitations tell us that he is in the real world, not in another simulation.
WIFI ?
Besides what is mentioned above, there are also quintessential flaws in the logic that Zion might be another simulation.
I have two rhetorical questions:
Question 1: If the ultimate goal of the Machines is to control, then why have a two-simulations system?
One should be enough.
The reason, given in the movie, for the ”One/Zion” control system on top of the matrix simulation is that humans need an inherent real possibility to escape - even if on a subconscious level. For their bodies and minds to accept the Matrix simulation (any simulation?), the Matrix needs to be flawed for real. It needs a real escape possibility, and not just a gateway to another fake simulated world. This is the “choice” the movies often mention.
Essentially, this is what The Architect tells us:
The Machines have learned that the human brain cannot fully embrace their simulations unless it allows a real backdoor. A real choice of escaping - even if only on a subconscious level. The Matrix must have a real dormant way to get free of it.
To solve this, their control system consists of four pillars:
The Matrix - the primary prison (power plant).
Zion - the secondary prison in the real world; a prison outside the simulation to house/managed "escaped" people.
Neo - the prophecy of the One gives humans false hope, and he can help manage humans in the real world (unlike programs).
A regular reset of Zion every 70-100 years to avoid the human population of the outside world getting out of manageable control.
Since a two-leveled control system is due to humans’ inability to accept simulations, making that second level another simulation is completely missing the reason why a two-leveled system is needed in the first place. Solving the problem by adding another simulation must logically, and in time, still nurture instability and a system crash. Then what? Create three simulations? Four simulations…Five? Another simulation doesn’t solve the fundamental issue here because the issue is that humans can’t fully accept simulated lives. Adding more won’t change this fact. The problem is solved by actually giving humans a real way to disconnect from this simulated world and then controlling the few that do - it will never be solved by repeating what already didn’t quite work.
Another simulated level argues against the very argument for having another level. It is illogical. By the very argument, the second-level control system must be in to the real world.
Question 2: Why is Neo a human (or made to believe he is human) if we are still in a simulation?
As discussed above, the Architect said that the simulation only worked if those hooked up to it had a real way of escaping - humans fundamentally feel a need to escape a simulation. Hence, they invented Zion outside in the real world to administer this.
To fool humans and guide them in the direction they want, an undercover program called the Oracle is created. Humans think she is an actual human Oracle, living within the Matrix, guiding their revolution. However, undercover programs like The Oracle do not function outside of a simulation. And for this reason, they need a biological entity, like Neo, to do the job out there. Neo is an invented necessity to manage that part of their control system.
As a “real” person with obvious loyalty to his own kin, he had to be seduced by the system and reasoned into ultimately choosing the right door (i.e., working for the AI to rebuild Zion). This is why Neo must be a human, and this is why the system is designed to “convince” him to choose the “right” door.
In fact, the Architect’s entire setup is designed to convince him, which tells us why he must be a human. Was he a program, he would be the easiest program to make (he barely talks, all he does is act)? Could he have been a program, then program him? No need for the “charade” with the Architect - insert disk a:… The reason for his meeting is best expressed by The Architect: “You have many questions, and though the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human.”
Bottom line, if it were all a simulation, Neo would not be needed. They would have another undercover deceiving program, like the Oracle, doing their chores in the Zion world. Humans wouldn’t know, of course, but the undercover program obviously would. Just like the Oracle-program inside the Matrix fooled humans, so would they have an “oracle-type program” doing their bidding outside as well. They don’t because Zion isn’t a simulation.
The Neo cannot be a program because it has to function outside a computer simulation. That was their challenge. He had to be biological.
Simulated too ?
Think about it, and a simulated Zion makes fundamentally no sense in the narrative of the whole story. Unless there is an entirely other reason behind all of it? And if so, all bets are off in the storytelling; make up what you will.
If Zion is an outside simulation, so is the whole Machine City, an outside simulation. So much was never intended for human eyes, and yet this so-called simulation decided to design it just because?? It designed the Babyface Source in machine city - no one saw it (only us, the audience, saw it; Neo was blind). The outside simulation created a place where babies are harvested and used for electricity - this is no longer real, according to this theory. The outside simulation has god knows how many sentinels, never meant to be seen. The outside simulation was designed so that they would need to drill through the crust just to stop humans. Why not let Zion continue (all humans are still connected by this theory - there is no threat)? Why not just flip the switch when the Zion world becomes too unmanageable?
Another thing to consider: if his powers prove that this is just another level in the simulation, then stop acting in this simulation and start trying to escape from this, too. Instead, the movie takes us to the final boss fight. I submit it wouldn't if it were still a simulation. No, the movie stops here because it is the final level. The last chapter. It is freedom. It is peace. It is reality. It is The End.
Everything in the story is about escaping the Matrix simulation. Everything.
In my view, the idea ridicules the whole narrative if you think it through.
What is he talking about here ?
Besides all of the above, the Oracle and the Architect would not have had their final conversation if it were all just a simulation. They talk about how there is now peace between man and machine, and how those who are still connected and want out will be freed. This conversation just wouldn’t be if it were still a simulation. Or rather, only in a situation where it was unknown to the Architect and the Oracle as well. And if one believes so, all bets are off.
Boiled down, nothing definitely supports the idea. It would be the equivalent of it all being a dream, which is generally a bit of a cop-out in telling stories. The only thing that classically supports a “it is a dream” type resolution is that, if nothing else explains it within the established story, what unfolds throughout. And, respectfully, there are better explanations that do not take such profound and, frankly, unsupported liberties to work.
Everything in the movie is about freeing humans from this simulation prison…. not just letting them go into another wing of the simulated prison… Occam’s razor says that Zion cannot be a simulation, pure and simple.
Very green!
A side note: The moviemakers intentionally made a slight change in the color scheme between the Matrix and reality. All in the Matrix is slightly more green than in the real world. They did this for a purpose: To subconsciously show us the audience that the two realms are fundamentally different. And they chose green for the Matrix because this was the code-color early computers used.
Photos via Google - © 1999 & 2003 WARNER BROS
Movies referenced are: “The Matrix (1999)”. “The Matrix - Reloaded (2003)”, “The Animatrix (2003)” & “The Matrix- Revolutions (2003)”. All Rights Reserved © 1999 & 2003 WARNER BROS.