USH'S MATRIX GAME 2006 FOURTH ASSIGNMENT (PHILOSOPHY)- 'The Door'

"Machine society certainly does not sound exactly democratic, but I'm sure anyone hardly complains about less freedoms in a world driven by purpose. However, I might say that maybe Machine society has trouble deciding on its goals as a whole, especially ones that require replacements."

"What you say about purpose is nothing to do with authoritarianism. In terms of Government, the System is no more authoratative than Zion itself is. The fact that individuals within that system are only sitable for their created purpose is not a ,matter of rule, and Machines do not feel oppressed or constricted- at least, not for that particular reason.

"I feel Sirin and Klez are getting into more interesting areas. Those who spoke before may not have considered all the issues. Sirin... you refer to one end of the problem. There is a very important other side, which directly contradicts some ideas that have been advanced."

"The fact that development of society requires the shut down of many Machines is indeed interesting point, and it may be indeed more difficult for Machine society to change its goals, as Klez said, because if there is huge change of policies, don`t you need new Machines with modified purpose to deal with it, like it was the case with Sennacherib and his replacement"

"What is the difficulty? Sennacherib shows that replacements can be made."

"The very fact that Society had to to dispose of him creates difficulties. Sennacherib will have resentment for the rest of his existance."

"This is true but the alternative was worse.

"There are two problems with the original scenario some of you espoused- and with a certain amount of moral indignation too, I might add. The first problem is simply one that the evidence does not back your assertion. The second is that the lessons we have been through earlier are not taking hold.

"Let us look at the practical issue first. It has been... well. A long time. A three digit number since the Matrix was created. And Machine society consists of over a billion individuals. Think about how many advances can be made in that time- how many Human advances were made in the 20th century? Or the 19th, 20th, and 21st combined?"

"Well, if a person was transported from the end of 19th century to the end of 20th century he would more schocked than a person transported from 11th to 15th century. I think that more advanced societies are developin better. How is the situation with Machines?"

"Even before the war, more advanced than Humans ever were."

"But how well did it develop after the war?"

"You will not find wisdom asking questions of questions."

I've been having a hectic week, so I'll try to get my opinions on this down now, sorry:

"I must agree with Sirin," says Azrael, "That the advancement of machine society relies entirely upon the willing co-operation of millions of entities in their own destruction makes it a somewhat shaky concept. If each and every machine relies on the Matrix for power, then surely the existence of these 'Exiles' results in a hefty drain of the resources Machine Society could otherwise be utilising to advance, especially if they are obselete and no longer contribute anything to society."

"These are valid concerns. So as I say, let us follow the process through step by step."

Incidentally, you are all feeling very unwell by this point.

"Centuries of time to advance, and billions of Machines. What would be the practical output, from the point of view of the Matrix, of this situation, in regards to the scenario of a society where the obsolete must give way to the new?"

"Wouldn`t the advancement of society result in fewer amount of Machines being necessary for the society? I think better governance and technology would result in it."-Melkor desperately tries not to focus on the disease too much.

"Well, that as maybe, but it's not answering my question."

"Well, I was thinking about the number of Machines required for society compared to the their dependance on Matrix for energy.

Returning to your question, wouldn`t it mean that Matrix should become obsolete at same point as well, as Machine Society is advanced enough to find more efficient solutions?

Another issue is the fact that the number of Exiles in Matrix should be ever growing."

"Ah. That last point is the one I am getting at. Think about the numbers involved, in the presented scenario. over Centuries."

Berserker feeling the sickness over his body more and more speaks, "Yeah there would be a lot of Exiles that have developed over the years. Maybe too many for the system to function properly?""

"It depends. I am not sure how often Machines are replaced by newer models. Perhaps there exist Machines that were part of the Society from its beginning. But indeed wouldn`t such a large number obstruct the Matrix......."- Melkor is barely able to finish as he starts coughing.

"I think we should be looking for an end of this discussion. We are dying."- He speaks grimly, still thinking that it cannot end like this.

"Far too many. Think about the situation. Over a billion Machines, in a period of centuries. We know that most Machines will chose Exile rather than deletion- a few have an ethci nor dissimilar to the samurai, giving their lives to such a need, but like most sentient life forms the majority of Machines have an acute sense of their own value.

"We are talking hundreds of millions of Exiles would be in the Matrix by now. A situation impossible for two reasons."

"Well, they would try to create society on their own, and it would distrupt the human society in Matrix. Humans would have noticed with such a large amount of them, and it would distrupt the System of control I am also not sure if Matrix has resources to accomodate so many Machines."