Many science fiction movies rely on the use of science to get their message across, and many more rely on the manipulation of scientific theories to fit the plot of the film. As such, there are a number of science fiction films that use pseudoscience or bad science in order to make the universe in the storyline work from the viewer’s perspective. It is interesting to assess the use of scientific concepts in science fiction, as it gives insight into how science is used as a plot device but can often be inaccurate. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of science in The Matrix, a 1999 film that explores a dystopian world through the use of several examples of bad science. It will become clear that there are a number of major scientific errors in The Matrix which do not detract from the film itself but are important to understand from the scientific perspective.
Humans as Power Source
One of the scientific plots in The Matrix uses humans as a power source for the matrix itself. The entire scenario revolves around the fact that there had been a war between intelligent artificial life and humans, which ended up with the humans blocking access to solar energy for power. These machines then got their revenge by using the humans themselves as a source of electricity that is harvested by hooking them up to the Matrix itself. As a plot device, this is a metaphor for slavery, as these humans are powering a simulation of the world without their permission and giving away their energy to help power the system that they did not ask to be a part of (Babenko 11). This scenario is necessary as part of the plot to show the enslavement of the humans that the protagonist Neo has to free, but is not particularly accurate in terms of science.
The scientific concept most relevant to understanding why this science is incorrected is the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This law states that there is a finite amount of energy in a closed system (the universe, for example) that does not increase or decrease, but changes form (Babenko 11). In The Matrix, the machines are using the humans as a source of bioelectricity, which has some element of truth in that humans do have action potentials, which are essentially electrochemical reaction (Babenko 14). It would also be possible for humans to create energy through running on a treadmill that is linked to a device that can harness this energy. The science in The Matrix is bad science, however, because it disregards the fact that the humans themselves would require energy to live, which usually comes in the form of calorific intake. It would be much more efficient to burn the calories (or food) than to feed it to the humans and then harness their energy.
DNA and Reproduction in The Matrix
It is also interesting to consider how reproduction works in The Matrix universe. In the movie, there is a clear association between what people look like in the real world (the simulation) and the matrix, suggesting that there is a link between the bodies in the vats and the characters working to free them. This would suggest that they have the same DNA in the real world and in the matrix, ensuring that human reproduction would occur much as it does in the real world. This is an important part of the plot because the main characters are able to move between the simulated world and the matrix, and this is why they look the same in both scenarios or worlds.
This is an interesting misuse of science in two main ways. It must be noted that everyone in the matrix must have a real world counterpart, which affects how accurate this science is. The first is that it violates the laws of probability, in that it would be very unlikely that the two people in the matrix world would meet and reproduce and that this same scenario would be reproduced in the real world simulation (Cori 57). It is statistically unlikely, unless the machines themselves created this real world baby by design. It is also statistically impossible that two instances of reproduction between the same two people would lead to genetically and physically identical progeny, as the scientific concepts of DNA recombination shows (Cori 57). The individual in the real world simulation would have to be cloned from that born in the matrix world, which complicates the plot. In this sense, reproduction in The Matrix goes against the biological fundamentals of reproduction.
The second way that this is incorrect relates to the physics of The Matrix as a whole. The real world is a simulation, powered by humans, of the real world, and therefore the individuals in it do not really exist in the same way as science suggests we do. The reproduction in the movie highlights how fundamentally flawed it would be to have two separate universes which include counterparts in each that can move between each universe. A child born in the real world simulation would have to be born in the matrix world, too, as everyone has a counterpart in this universe. If the humans are hooked up as batteries, however, there is no opportunity for them to reproduce, which means that any babies born in the real world do not have this matrix counterpart, highlighting the flaws with the physics of this film.
Works Cited
Babenko, Yelyzaveta. Analysis of the Film “The Matrix.” GRIN Verlag, 2011. Print.
Cori, Patricia. Beyond the Matrix: Daring Conversations with the Brilliant Minds of Our Times. North Atlantic Books, 2010. Print.
Wachowski, Lana, and Lilly Wachowski. The Matrix. N.p., 1999. Film.
