There's a famous thought experiment where we can imagine ourselves as a brain in a vat being fed information by an alien species running experiments on us. The question is: how would we know if we were a brain? We may "think therefore exist" but what kind of existence we'd have as a brain in a jar is questionable.
In The Matrix, we essentially are a brain in a jar, except the jar is our own body that is trapped in… another jar. There are simply two realities and, while Morpheus might refer to one as "real" it's clear that neither world has primacy over the other.
Questions about Versions of Reality
- Given Morpheus' explanation of the subjectivity of reality, why does he seem to insist that one world is "real"? Is he letting his own stake in that world color his perception?
- If you were in Cypher's position (hating the physical world) would you want to go back to the virtual world if you wouldn't have to hurt anyone in the process?
- How would the machines perceive these two realities? If truly conscious machines existed would a virtual reality have primacy over a physical one? Are the two realities even mutually exclusive?
Chew on This
The world of the Matrix and our own 21st century world are (aside from a few years) identical. We are simply being fed sensory information. Our brains are in a vat known as our body and information is being put into our sensory organs. This is all we can possibly know. Everything else is conjecture.
While it may appear that there are two realities: the Matrix and the physical world, there are, in fact, millions. Each human being within the physical world and the Matrix experiences their own reality. There are simply two networks of connected realities.