Modern Mythology

[steve_bank]

I an sure their are books and papers on the topic.

Did not know where to put this, it is in part about modern sociolo0gy.
.
Jumping over from a pseudoscience thread a on ETs.

The Matrix

Anderson aka MaGyver who played O’Neil on Stargate SG1 called the gate ring the greatest stage prop of all time. A plot device. Walk into to in the studio. Carry it outside and walk out of it and you are on another planet.

It was a regular action adventure film. A lot of violence to music designed to get a hard on with young males. The Matrix system was a plot device, it enabled all the action. Those fights scenes where Neo fights hundreds of people violation physic is right out of the old Hong Kong martial arts movies.

It is cartoonish. Jumping off a building and bouncing off the street. Neo pulling up a helicopter.

That the free human refuge is called Zion is a clue as to literary inspiration. Morpheus is the tribal radical mystic who believes in a prophesy of a savior who can manipulate the Matrix, a John The Baptist prophesying Jesus is coming. In a crisis he preaches hope and faith to the tribe at a meeting.

There is a love story around Neo. It is a tragedy, the hero dies in the act of saving the tribe. Jesus the demigod.

It seems the bible and Greek mythology may have been part of the inspiration.

Morpheus is the Greek god of dreams, son of Hypnos (Sleep), who shapes and sends dreams to mortals. The name means "shaper of dreams" and is associated with changing forms and the ability to shape reality, leading to the phrase "in the arms of Morpheus" for being asleep. The drug morphine and the character from The Matrix are also named after him due to these associations.

What was the basic story? A machine intelligence evolves after humans get plugged into a dream machine and they become enslaved by the machine. A prophesy of too much dependence on technology and machine intelligence out of control?

We see it right now. I see it on the street and bus, people with their head down in a wireless device playing games, watching video, listening to music oblivious to the world around tthem. They walk like zombies.

As they say in literature there are only a limited set of basic plots.

At the end I don’t think it was revealed if Zion was real or just part of the simulation.

 

[excreationist]

If anyone wants to discuss The Matrix and other movie mythology

The following site has dozens of articles about how the Kabbalah apparently fits into the Matrix movies:

You searched for kabbalah - Matrix4Humans

matrix4humans.com

I've got a web page about the concept of suffering:

Why is there Suffering? - Life's Player

About suffering in a simulation

lifesplayer.com

Choosing to Suffer?
In scenarios like the Roy game and Alan Watts' dream thought experiment, the player chose to live a life involving suffering but forgot this during the game. They'd remember this choice when they woke up.

In “The Matrix”
Agent Smith had this to say about suffering:

Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization.

Philosophical Zombies
In future video games, non-player characters could act just like conscious beings but without the ability to genuinely feel anything, including negative sensations. It would be up to the simulation's creator whether they want billions of characters to experience genuine suffering or not.

I don't think that p-zombie section applies to the Matrix movies though - for the people who have a physical body and brain outside of the Matrix.

Key Religious & Mythological Elementsin The Matrix​

• Neo as the Messiah
  • Neo is “The One,” a Christ figure who dies and is resurrected, symbolizing salvation.
  • His journey mirrors the Messianic prophecy—foretold by the Oracle, doubted by others, and ultimately fulfilled.
• Trinity
  • Her name directly references the Christian Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
  • She is the one who revives Neo with her love, echoing divine grace and resurrection.
• Morpheus as Mentor
  • Morpheus is named after the Greek god of dreams, fitting since he awakens people from the illusion of the Matrix.
  • He also embodies the archetype of the wise guide (like Virgil in Dante’s Divine Comedy).
• The Oracle
  • A modern take on the Delphic Oracle of Greek mythology.
  • She represents prophecy, fate, and the tension between free will and destiny.
• Ship Names & Places
  • Nebuchadnezzar: Named after the Babylonian king from the Old Testament, who had troubling dreams requiring interpretation.
  • Zion: The last human city, echoing Jerusalem as a holy refuge.
• Gnostic Influences
  • The Matrix itself is a false reality, paralleling Gnostic belief that the material world is a prison created by a false god (the Demiurge).
  • Salvation comes through gnosis (knowledge), just as Neo awakens through truth.
• Buddhist & Hindu Parallels
  • The idea of the Matrix as maya (illusion) aligns with Hindu and Buddhist teachings.
  • Neo’s awakening resembles enlightenment, transcending illusion to perceive ultimate reality.
• Myth of the Hero’s Journey
  • Neo follows Joseph Campbell’s monomyth: the call to adventure, trials, death/rebirth, and return as a transformed savior.

 

[Spacetime Inhabitant]

If you are going to call a topic modern mythology, then instead of a movie that many people are aware of (like many other movies and TV series), and which whilst it might be an occasional topic of discussion by people, basically has no effect on their lives, I would have thought that instead one would deal with beliefs that do affect people's lives, such as the idea that Trump is a great president or the other obvious one, the Bible, which though it is old, it has serious effects on modern life (unlike similar old beliefs such as Norse mythology).

I know, these have and are being dealt with in numerous other threads, and you wanted to deal with 'The Matrix'.
BUT, you know who else leaps off buildings and flies? Superman, and many other characters from modern cultural media. Many of these characters are better known to most people, and have current movie manifestations. So, what is so special about Neo?
Ah, I know. Everyone knows these others are just comic book or other fictional characters, but Neo may be real as the Matrix might exist!
But that is not so. Even if a person believes in the simulation hypothesis, they still believe that 'The Matrix' is just a movie in that simulation, nothing special.

I hope I am not coming across as too ungracious or pedantic, but I am just stimulating the conversation hopefully. I am basically saying that 'The Matrix' is just one example of what may be labelled 'modern mythology', and the topic should be broader, or be labelled 'The Matrix: a modern mythology'.

 

[steve_bank]

The social science part of it is when people can not see a difference between pop mythology and reality, As do Christians and their mythology.

Excretionist on another thread appears to use Matrix system as a kind of proof of simulation theory, we are part of a video game or simulation.

People are have increasingly harder ties dealing with reality as it is. Endless streams of reporting on mental health issues and people saying they can not cope. Simulation theory is another myth to escape to.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

This video is interesting, does make some comparisons between the simulation hypothesis and religion, too.

 

[steve_bank]

Not pseudoscience to the believer, reality. Pseudoscience including simulation theory is a vast business with a vast paying audience..

I did a search on books on simulation theory and related topics. Many authors.

Escapism.

 

[excreationist]

Excretionist on another thread appears to use Matrix system as a kind of proof of simulation theory, we are part of a video game or simulation.

Note I think that almost nothing in the Matrix movies is relevant to my simulation beliefs. The TV show I find most relevant is the Roy game.