Jason Nienhaus
October 17, 2007
Jr. Theology
Computers, Caves, and Oracles: Neo and Socrates
By: William Irwin
I. Questions and Missions
A. Neo – “What is the Matrix?”
1. This question drives Neo to seek out Trinity and Morpheus.
2. Neo risks giving up his average, stable life to find the truth about his surroundings; red pill vs. blue pill.
3. Deciding to find the answer to his question sends him on a quest to the Oracle for more information.
B. Socrates – “What is the good life?”
1. Questioned fellow citizens on matters of faith, morals, and philosophy.
a. “What makes an act holy?”
b. Became known as the Socratic Method.
2. Still claimed he “knew nothing.”
3. Seeks
out the Oracle at
II. Oracles’ Message.
A. The Wisest in the World.
1. Socrates claimed to know nothing, yet Delphic Oracle still heralded him the wisest man alive.
2. Tries to disprove this message by questioning others who thought themselves to be wise.
a. Realizes through questioning that by recognizing his own ignorance, he truly was the wisest.
b. Took it as his charge to reveal his fellow citizens’ ignorance.
B. Guiding the path of the One.
1. The Oracle asks Neo questions about what he believes is his purpose.
a. “You know why you’re here?”
b. “Do you think you’re the one?”
2. Neo, however, does not know and is unsure of himself
3. Plaque on her wall says “Know Thyself.”
a. As series continues, Neo begins to understand himself.
b. Allows him to truly believe he is the one.
C. Self-knowledge.
1. Key to unlocking all other forms of knowledge.
2. Both Life of Socrates and Matrix point to the same conclusion: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
III. Escaping the cave.
A. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.”
1. People chained to a wall in a cave.
2. Shadows of items fast from a fire behind them pass before them.
3. With nothing else to compare these to, the people accept them as real.
4. One person escapes to “see the light,” or discover the reality of the world.
B. The truth about the Matrix.
1. Neo takes the red pill and awakens to discover he has been living in a computer-generated prison for his mind, created to keep him from rebelling against the machines that have taken over the world.
2. Refuses to believe this new information at first.
a. “Why do my eyes hurt?” –Neo
b. “Because you’ve never used them before. Get some rest.” -Morpheus.
IV. Knowledge and Reality.
A. “No one can be told what the Matrix is.”
1. Likewise, we must ask ourselves the questions Socrates posed to his peers.
2. Must “free [our] minds,” and take the jump to seek out true knowledge.
B. Philosophy and knowledge.
1. Robert Frost – “I took the [road] less traveled, and it has made all the difference.”
2. Neo similarly chooses a difficult path to truly understand who he is.
a. The Red pill symbolizes the Neo’s assertion that he does not understand everything about his surroundings.
b. He joins Morpheus to “see how far down the rabbit hole goes,” to discover himself according to the Socratic Method.