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DanielLC comments on Fundamental Doubts - Less Wrong
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We do need to hypothesize why Morpheus doesn't understand the laws of thermodynamics.
Then again, Morpheus could be lying. Perhaps the question is why he thought Neo would believe a statement involving a violation of thermodynamics. For that matter, maybe the question is why Morpheus told Neo an obvious lie.
Shortly after we see Neo trained to ignore the laws of physics - jumping, karate, etc. I took it to be preparation for that.
But he's doing it in the Matrix. It's like telling someone that there's life after death, to prepare them for extra lives in a video game.
I don't see any reason why Morpheus should understand the laws of thermodynamics.
That said, I remember reading years ago someone's suggestion for how to make that scene much better:
Morpheus: yadda yadda utterly ridiculous explanation
Neo: But that makes no friggin' sense! It can't work that way!
M: And why is that?
N: It violates the laws of thermodynamics!
M: And you learned about those laws where?
N: In the -- oooh.
M: (nods sagely) They are subtle.
It's not just Morpheus. If anyone in Zion understands it, they know that that's not why the machines are really keeping people. If nobody in Zion understands it, then how are they building working machines?
If you know ANYTHING about building working machines, you should know that most of the people that build them have no clues about the laws of thermodynamics.
Engineering is much more a respecter of intuition and trial and error than it is of theories.
One would expect a culture of a very limited number of free humans going up against a vastly materially and intelligently superior enemy to be primarily a raiding culture, anyway. Otherwise they haven't a prayer.
How can they be a raiding culture? Who do they raid?
The machines... they steal the machines that can't fight backk, retool them to their purposes. With all the things in the movie that don't make sense, that part does.
You may be thinking of Eliezer Yudkowsky's 2008 post "Fundamental Doubts"; scroll up or select the "View the original post" link above. Best wishes, the Less Wrong Reference Desk
Thanks!
Which re-appeared in Methods of Rationality years later as 'WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD': http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/64/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality
This is the first comment I have ever wanted to upvote multiple times.