Reality and Illusion in the Matrix and Star Trek

Most philosophers including Descartes began by assuming that what they were seeing was indeed real, at least within the grasp of their senses. Beginning with "I Think Therefore I am", assuming the integrity of one's own mind is of course a prerequisite to any useful thinking. But assuming the integrity of one's senses is not nearly as safe. However barring superstitious apparitions such as ghosts and demons, it was assumed that the integrity of the sense was linked to mental integrity insofar as what we were seeing was real.

Of course there were and are plenty of visual hallucinations, the phantom oasis in the desert is of course a classic example. The human mind is quite agile at believing what it wishes to believe and accordingly seeing what it wishes to see. In a sense virtual reality can become the extension of such consensual hallucinations.

With the age of movies and television immersing billions across the world in make believe worlds, soap operas, cowboy stories, science fiction epics and adventures, the very nature of consensual reality is not so stable. Ever heard of someone who's really a fan of a particular show? So much so that he or she almost lives inside it or wishes they could? Remember the fan played by Justin Long in "Galaxy Quest" who really did believe the show is real. Or could be.

Then pile on Reality TV, in which what you're seeing is supposedly real and you can take part in it. Is it real? Unreal? Or virtually real?

Next step over to World of Warcraft (and before that Everquest\Evercrack) or Second Life and consider all the people who spend much of their time and sizable portions of their lives living out online adventures. While the graphical environments of both World of Warcraft and Second Life are a very long way from reality, it becomes a consensual reality for those users who embrace it.

In Science Fiction we envision virtual worlds that are equally real as our own or rather seem to be so and cannot be distinguished by observation, even by look, feel and touch from the real genuine world. In 24th century era Star Trek such worlds are generated holographically through a complex collection of computer programming, holographic imagery, force fields and transporter and replicator technology.This complex conglomeration of technologies unites to create an environment that is difficult to distinguish from reality. An environment you can touch, eat, get wet in and interact and die in.

Star Trek's holodeck artificiality may be distinguished through difficult observation. When the holographic character Moriarty appears to leave the holodeck and seize control of the ship, Picard must realize that (in a Holmesian way) that since Moriarty could not physically leave the holodeck, therefore he did not and that they are all actually trapped inside the holodeck. Further cues are given by the holographic Geordi failing to live up to the real one.

When Riker finds himself trapped in a complex simulation created by a small alien child, that appears to send him into a future Enterprise, breaches in the holographic reality, such as delays in processing computer requests, out of character behavior by Picard and others and a wife selected for him, who was herself a holographic character, alert him to the artificial nature of this reality.

The primary means of telling reality from illusion in the holodeck is not through the senses, but the mind. Where the technology is more than sufficient to fool the senses, creating skin that can be touched, food that can be tasted, chairs that can support you and even seemingly vast vistas of space stretching around you in every direction, it cannot compensate for the flaws in the depth of character of the simulated people inside or the failure to take into account the the logical mind of the one experiencing it.

In that way, the holodeck like many modern day gaming systems, is heavy on graphics, but too often low on NPC and enemy A.I. creating characters to interact with that don't stand up to the test and also creating environments that boast visual richness but lack real depth.

However even the illusion of the holodeck can approach the point of reality. Moriarty is just one of a number of holographic characters who take on a depth of reality so much so, that debates can begin about whether they are true living beings with rights. The ultimate version of this was of course the Emergency Medical Hologram from "Star Trek Voyager" whose personhood became enstablished much as Data's had been on "Star Trek The Next Generation."

When Picard finally fools Moriarty into thinking he has been transported off the holodeck onto the real Enterprise, along with his bride, and given a shuttlecraft in which to explore the galaxy, only to be placed in a stored holographic cube, Picard wonders for a moment if indeed the entire Enterprise is nothing more than a simulation running on someone's holographic cube somewhere. Having been trapped by and then trapped a holographic character in layers of reality, Captain Picard can no longer be fully confident of his reality.

By contrast the illusion of the Matrix is not holographic, but a virtual one fed directly to the mind. Yet the very premise of the Matrix is that the illusion must be one which people will accept. For the Matrix to succeed it must be accepted, to avoid the same errors which caused Riker to reject the holographic program. For it to be accepted it must be modeled on the nature of humanity. Not a paradise but a human world, flawed and damaged. This is the nature of the Matrix crafted by the Architect.

Indeed the illusion of the Matrix is persuasive that most voluntarily accept it and even some who have rejected it nevertheless seek to return there. The real world is hard, dark and grim. By contrast The Matrix has the taste of real meat and the comforts of life. The illusion of The Matrix is precisely so appealing because it is vastly superior to reality not in creating a perfect world, but a more livable one, than the grim reality is.

Subjective reality is what we choose to accept. For a long time we have chosen to accept versions of reality that are unreal. Millions of people watch wrestling, play the lottery believing they can win and watch "The Bachelor" believing it's real. Virtual reality that creates a reality that fools our senses may not be here yet, but in Science Fiction virtual reality that fools our senses is the inferior challenge. In both Star Trek and The Matrix, the real challenge has become from virtual reality that can fool our minds. Yet in the here and now it appears that our minds are all too susceptible to allowing ourselves to be fooled.