Philosopher Rene Descartes famously coined the dictum “Cogito ergo sum,” or, “I think, therefore I am.” His concern was how we could truly know what is real. In a vivid dream state, does the dreamer not feel as if this is reality? How do we know we are not in a dream state? Can we be sure that we even exist? He reasoned that the fact that he could even consider such things meant that he was a thinking being, and a thinking being is necessarily a part of reality, thus, even if nothing else can be certain, we can be sure that since “I think… I am.”
The tentative nature of reality is well-covered (and fascinatingly so) in philosophy both classic and contemporary, but these days we often like to explore such ideas through the medium of film. A fantastic example, and one which actually gets cited quite frequently in contemporary philosophy texts, is the Wachowski Brothers’ (now Siblings, I suppose [Larry is now Lana]) classic 1999 sci-fi mega-explosion The Matrix. Keanu Reeves stars as Neo, a computer hacker who comes across a secret and so becomes involved in a vast conspiracy: our world is not the real world. It is a computer simulation fed into our brains; in reality, we are held in stasis, serving as living batteries to power the computer hive mind that really controls the world. One dedicated group of freedom fighters are determined to bring humanity to triumph – they just need a savior…
Tomorrow, Saturday, June 6, Baxter Avenue Theaters presents The Matrix as part of the Midnights at the Baxter series. This is a highly entertaining, explosive film, deftly combining fierce action and compelling philosophy in a way which has already rendered it a sci-fi classic. See it tomorrow at midnight. Baxter Avenue Theater is located at 1250 Bardstown Road. Further details can be found at the theater website.
Image: Internet Movie Database
