The Matrix as a system vs thought as a system

Vinay Dabholkar vinay@catalign.com

July 22, 2015

www.catalign.in 1

vs

Images: amazon.com, seekaftertruth.com. Thought as a system, David Bohm, 1994, Routledge

How would you know the difference between the dream world & the real world?

www.catalign.in 2

Have you ever had a dream Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake up from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? --- Morpheus to Neo, in The Matrix

What are the two systems?

www.catalign.in 3

What is the Matrix?

The Matrix is a shared computer simulation of the world as it was in 1999 running perhaps in the year 2199. This giant computer gets its energy from the bioelectricity of millions of humans who are harvested and trapped in capsules from the birth by the machine. Every human battery is playing some role in the dream world. Neo is also one of the human batteries who is a hacker in this simulated world. Morpheus lives in a hovercraft in the real world and rescues people like Neo to come out of their battery-life.

www.catalign.in 4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix

www.catalign.in 5

What is “thought as a system”? Thought is a system of reflexes. What is a reflex? Knee jerks when hit on the bone. That’s a reflex. Similarly, most of our thoughts are reflexes to the environment we are in. When the car ahead suddenly breaks, foot presses the break like a reflex. If my boss gets mad at me, then certain thoughts spring up. Many of these reflexes are serving useful functions as they help us sit, walk, write, drive and carry out umpteen other tasks effortlessly. However, thought as a system also has a systemic flaw. That perpetuates conflicts like war, oppression, depression, corruption etc.

www.catalign.in 6

How are the two systems similar?

#1: You can’t be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself

www.catalign.in 7

“Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself” --- Morpheus to Neo

#1: You have to see the reflexes in action for yourself

www.catalign.in 8

You may read tons of books, practice different methods for years, live on a mountain retreat, do satsangs with a Guru and yet the core set of incoherent reflexes may remain unchanged. You have to see the movement of thought as a set of reflexes in action yourself.

#2: The Matrix sustains perception-reality gap

www.catalign.in 9

The real world The dream world

In the Matrix, Neo thinks he is a programmer and a hacker and the year is 1999. However, in reality, he is one of the countless human batteries supplying bioelectricity to a gigantic machine and the year is 2199. This illusion is created & sustained by Matrix.

#2: Thought sustains perception-reality gap

www.catalign.in 10

Looks like boss is mad at me. Is he going to fire me?

He is definitely going to fire me! I better start looking out.

Oh! I was wrong all along. He was so nice in the meeting.

Day-1 Day-3 Day-15

Thought can imagine a problematic scenario. And react to it as if it is already a reality. It can sustain the imaginary “problem” in spite of contrary evidence.

#3: You are a slave to the Matrix

www.catalign.in 11

You are a slave, Neo

“You are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind.”

#3: You are a slave of your thoughts

www.catalign.in 12

The general tacit assumption in thought is that it is just telling you the way things are and that it is not doing anything – that ‘you’ are inside there, deciding what to do with the information. But I want to say that you don’t decide what to do with the information. The information takes over. It runs you. Thought runs you. Thought, however, gives the false information that you are running it, that you are the one who controls thought, whereas actually thought is the one which controls each of us. -- Bohm, Thought as a system, p. 27

I want to fight and win the battle!

#4: The Matrix is everywhere

www.catalign.in 13

The Matrix is everywhere

“The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out of the window on when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.” -- Morpheus to Neo

#4: Thought as a system is everywhere

www.catalign.in 14

[Thought as a system includes] the thoughts, the state of the body, the emotions, and also the whole society – the culture, the way we pass information between us, and so on. I am not saying that the system is everything there is. However, the system has become so pervasive, that it can be almost all we are able to see much of the time. -- Bohm, Thought as a system, p. 50

#5: It’s possible to hack the Matrix

www.catalign.in 15

#5: Thought as a system has cracks

www.catalign.in 16

We don’t want to regard this system as an absolutely monolithic thing which you can never break into. It’s actually not all that solid. It has chinks and lets some things through, therefore there is an opportunity to do something. You can’t control it, but opportunities do come up. -- Bohm, Thought as a system, p. 79

Oh! What’s the point of worrying about all this right now?

#6: Possible to see the Matrix while in the Matrix

www.catalign.in 17

Neo: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets? Morpheus: No, Neo. I’m trying to tell you that when you’re ready, you won’t have to.

#6: Possible to perceive the movement of thought while thinking

18

If we say that thought is a reflex like any other muscular reflex – just a lot more subtle and more complex and changeable – then we ought to be proprioceptive with thought. Thought should be able to perceive its own movement. That perception acts directly in the system and somehow makes a change so that the reflex becomes inoperative. Perhaps it starts to dissolve away a bit. -- Bohm, Thought as a system, p. 181, 216

It’s bad. I am anxious. I should not be like this.

I am anxious. It’s normal to be anxious in this situation.

Without Self-perception

With Self-perception

*

* Proprioception means self-perception

Are you ready for the red pill?

www.catalign.in 19

To see how deep the rabbit hole goes….

If ‘yes’, welcome to the ride…

If ‘no’, enjoy the ride, anyways.

www.catalign.in 20

Where does the analogy break?

Matrix is an enemy

www.catalign.in 21

Matrix is a system Neo. That system is our enemy… Most of the people are so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it. -- Morpheus to Neo

Thought is not an enemy

www.catalign.in 22

I don’t think you should think thought is trying to do anything, any more than your knee-jerk is trying to do anything. Imagine endorphins have suddenly been removed from the pain nerves, and the brain is objecting very strongly. Thought merely responds with reflexes aimed at doing whatever that will reduce that [pain] – which is what it does all the time anyway. -- Bohm, Thought as a system, p. 176

Additional References

www.catalign.in 23

Chapter 39, titled “The splinter” of the book “Perfect Brilliant Stillness” by David Carse begins with a dialog from “The Matrix”

https://vimeo.com/53000177

Philosophy and the Matrix: Return to the source: A documentary

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Brilliant-Stillness-David-Carse/dp/0976578301

Thank You

www.catalign.in 24

Related articles: http://www.catalign.in/2014/11/thought-as-system-by-david-bohm-book.html

http://www.catalign.in/2015/05/mindfulness-on-go-my-first-workshop.html

http://www.catalign.in/2015/06/12-angry-men-and-2-movements-of-thought.html

http://www.catalign.in/2015/03/a-beautiful-mind-and-three-acts-of.html