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1 1 Quotes in this chapter designated with a † are from The Matrix (movie). Quotes designated with SS are from The Matrix Shooting Script.

2 2 Descartes, R. (1986). Meditations on First Philosophy , 2 (trans. Ronald Rubin). Claremont, California: Areté Press .

3 3 For another interesting exploration of dreams and reality try the film Waking Life.

4 4 Descartes, 3.

5 5 Compare this to Matriculated, the ninth animated short in The Animatrix. It tells the story of a band of rebels who capture a sentient machine and put it into a Matrix of their own design. The machine is then given a set of experiences in order to “brainwash” it into thinking that it is human. This film also suggests a motive for the limits of Neo's own deception – empathy. The rebels set limits on the extent to which they deceive the machine because they do not want to make it a slave. Rather, they want to render it harmless – to make it an ally. This also seems to be the Architect's primary motive in limiting the deceptions of humans within the Matrix.

6 6 For a similar sort of deception see Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall.

7 7 An exception to this general rule occurs when Neo is caused to “forget” his first interrogation by Agent Smith. Only when Trinity removes the bug from his naval does he recall the event.

8 8 In this case Neo would be a sort of futuristic Sisyphus. Though one key difference is that Sisyphus was fully aware of the futility of his work.

9 9 Morpheus teaches Neo this lesson in the Kung Fu scene from The Matrix.

10 10 Descartes, 6.

11 11 This famous phrase comes from Descartes's Discourse on Method.

12 12 Descartes, 6. For his now classic “brain in a vat” hypothesis see also Putnam, H. (2008). Reason, Truth, and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

13 13 See Russell, B. (1959). Appearance and reality. In: The Problems of Philosophy (ed. B. Russell ). Oxford: Oxford University Press .

14 14 If you think that you know that the chair is composed of atoms, think again. Any evidence for the existence of atoms ultimately depends on sense perceptions. And these, as we've seen, are always just appearances.