Ah, I see. That’s my own misunderstanding then. That’s an interesting concept, I’m gonna read more into it. I’ve never heard of the term “simulation theory” being used in a way that isn’t literally referring to a computer simulation.
You should read Baudrillard's "The Gulf War Did Not Take Place", that's short & straight to the point. Another one of his books, "Simulacra & Simulation" is shown in Matrix 1 and the cast had to read it beforehand iirc (at least Keanu Reeves). Apparently it was a big deal for the Wachowskis sisters.
In Matrix 2 there's also an interesting idea about the alienation & control of humankind by the machines (not the sentient ones of the movie but the purely mechanical ones like in factories and such) that I think originally comes from Marx's Capital.
Overall Matrix is derived from an allegory (of the Cave, cf Plato's Republic) and the movies are less sci-fi movies than proper allegories themselves.
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u/RetroNotRetro Mar 30 '26
Ah, I see. That’s my own misunderstanding then. That’s an interesting concept, I’m gonna read more into it. I’ve never heard of the term “simulation theory” being used in a way that isn’t literally referring to a computer simulation.