The Importance Of Reality In The Matrix And The Allegory Of The Cave

“When the mind's eye rests on objects illuminated by truth and reality, it understands and comprehends them, and functions intelligently; but when it turns to the twilight world of change and decay, it can only form opinions, its vision is confused and its beliefs shifting, and it seems to lack intelligence.” (Plato) Let’s break down this quote and delve on its meanings that seem apparent to us at first glance and later at the meanings that we perceive with further investigation. What Plato insists on is that which is understood by us from what we’ve always known and thought we knew contrasts with truth when exposed to something out of the ordinary, “twilight world of change and decay”. This results in our confusion and thereafter, our lack of

In fact, the reality Socrates describes is false and the true reality is later witnessed, in a process of awe, disbelief, and misunderstanding. To fully understand Plato’s argument and the connection it has with The Allegory and The Matrix, the quote must be broken down. In the Allegory, the quote, “When the mind's eye rests on objects illuminated…,” demonstrates the shadows portrayed on the wall facing the chained prisoners. The prisoners believe these shadows to be reality, however weird it may be, and interpret it as the only reality. The true reality is however, the shadows of passersby from behind, illuminated by the fire behind them. In the matrix, the quote demonstrates Neo’s perception of truth. This means his whole life along with the people within it. It’s a reality instilled in all human kind, not just Neo’s, by the machines and the programs that make up this reality. The shadows in the allegory are similar to the shadows in the matrix only in the case of the latter; the shadows are casted by the machines which is symbolic of the