»The Architech and The Oracle«

Hi All,

I was just wondering if anyone interrupted parallels between The Architect and The oracle like i did. It seems to me that these 2 programs are like Neo and Smith, essentially opposites. They are like Ying and Yang. I think the reason why i liked the ending was because it become apparent to me how these 2 work, what the purpose of the architect and the oracle in fact is; to decide the future outcome of the Matrix (and to come up with a solution to destroy the smith infestation).

Right, how do i explain this...The Architect is logical, he uses calculations and algarithm's to make his decisions, where as The Oracle is....well, illogic i suppose, relying more on intuition and creativity to make her decisions (to propherise etc). Furthermore, The Architect doesn't see a use for the human race (above being a power source), and thinks that the only way to avoid smith from taking over the system is to reboot it (the choice Neo has to make in the "television room"). But The Oracle loves humanity and believes in the power of the One to destory Agent Smith. The Architech interupted the chances of Neo succeeding against Smith as millions to 1 but The Oracle saw this as being hope, love etc.

I suppose you could almost think of The Architect and The Oracle as a human brain. The Matrix may have duplicated the functions of human left brain and right brain patterns and personified them as these 2 people. This is a taking it a little deeper though....

Ok, so where em i going with this. Well, i think the reason why i liked the ending of this movie (besides REALLY needing to go to the toilet ) was because when these 2 programs met up at the end of the movie, the dialogue kind of made it clear for me. The Architect says "you played a dangerous game" and the Oracle responds with "thats the price you pay for change". So in effect the combined power of the 2 programs (ying/yang etc) are responsible for the systems final decision and its inherent "revolultionary" change. And that, ultimately, the system needs human beings to survive and thus choose not to destroy Xion.

So what do you think? Agree / Disagree?

totally agree....

although the architect did the mathematical formula for creating the Matrix, it was never perfect. anomalies keep creeping and destroying it. the Oracle is the one that knows how to balance the matrix. It is explained in the end of MAtrix 2.
The other parrallel too is that the architect thinks like a machine while the oracle thinks like a human. it is the oracle that understands man. in fact she lives like one, baking cookies and everything.

i too agree

You made that concept a little confusing roborat. The architect is the one that balances the equation. And the oracle is the one that unbalances the equation. Like you said, the architect acts like a machine and the oracle acts as a human.

yeah...plus they say that word-for-word in the film. the whole 'he balances i unbalence' thing.

The talk of equations and whatnot was metaphorical.

The point i was trying to make was that the Architect is essentially a logical program / personality, and completely opposite to The Oracle. Wheather he failed grade 3 maths is irrelevant.

Furthermore: You would expect that the Architect of a super computer that controls millions of people inside a program based virtual reality would know how to count to 20...or prehaps; the odds of a particular event occuring inside the program that he has created (neo vs smith)....etc.

what i wanna know about the architect is: if he dislikes the anomale so much, why didn't he just shoot neo in the freakin face when they first met? i mean, neo wouldn't be able to dodge bullets in that monitor room because it was set apart from the matrix. sure, millions of people would be pissed of at that ending, but you gotta admit, it'd be pretty funny if it went like this:

neo: who are you?
archie: i'm the architect. (pulls gun)
=BLAMMO=
THE END
(roll credits)

I dont think the Oracle hates Neo. He just looks down on him and doesn't see a use for human beings, apart from being batteries. I think he just doesn't understand the purpose of human beings...not until the end of course, when he shows compassion towards Neo, for saving the Matrix from the smith infestation...

Just my thoery....

As every program, maybe the Matrix has a purpose itself. Maybe that purpose is to create such an environment where the opposites (Oracle/Architect) can develop a new way of life, a new coexistance. Maybe the Matrix is just a lab where the last step in evolution is being given, only this time directed and guided.

Just a thought

PLEASE COMMENT

I suppose you could almost think of The Architect and The Oracle as a human brain. The Matrix may have duplicated the functions of human left brain and right brain patterns and personified them as these 2 people. This is a taking it a little deeper though....

Twelfth Sword... just an illustration.
The left brain and the right brain do not act as opposites... NEVER, imagine that your left brain controlled the right side of your body and viceversa... now imagine your left brain being evil and your right good... got it.

Nevertheless it is the lymbic system that keeps track of all of our animal or most primitive functions (like anger or sex), then comes the neocortex (NEOcortex) which makes up for our rational side.

OK, as far as i understood, the left-side of your brain controlled your logical processors and the right-side of your brain controls your imagination / creativity. When you sleep your left brain becomes majority inactive, only your right brain shows strong signs of stimulation which is why you dream when you sleep.

So back to my point, the architect being logical (left side) and the oracle being creative (right side). The combination of the 2 sides of your brain are used to come up with the decision's you make on a day to day basis. What i was going to say (but didn't due to this inevitable explaination which is currently unfolding) is that these thought processors could be used by the matrix, like they are used by humans. The Oracle and the Architect are personified representations of these 2 seperate processors, allowing the matrix to be a more conclusive entity, and the information gathered, to decide monumental change; REVOLUTIONARY change.

You are correct about right brain controlling the right side of your body and left side controlling the left side, but this is different to what im referring to here. This is referring to physical movement and even though your point is correct, its only associated with the central nervous system and not to a persons problem solving skills (creative / logical ability). This isn't just stuff im pulling out of thin air by the way. Its fact. If its wrong then blame Nobel Prize Winner (1981) Roger Sperry that come up with the research and every other physcologist that uses it as the basis for their theory

Just....someone else's thoughts combined with my own

Heres a link if your interested in a bit of reading material on this subject:

Zaa Nayazu wrote:

As every program, maybe the Matrix has a purpose itself. Maybe that purpose is to create such an environment where the opposites (Oracle/Architect) can develop a new way of life, a new coexistance. Maybe the Matrix is just a lab where the last step in evolution is being given, only this time directed and guided. Just a thought PLEASE COMMENT

Well said. I think a theory on the evolution of open/closed systems ( see K.Kelly Out of Control) and how it can be directly interfaced on the trilogy would work. I just haven't digested enough of Kelly's book to create one. Therefore, let me offer a quote from his book - pg 144-145, Subject - Bio2 a self-contained terrarium where humans were housed for long periods of time, where they should be able to live,eat and drink.

"Designing a biome was an opportunity to think like God", recalled Warshall, "You, as god, could create something by nothing. You could create something - some wonderful synthetic vibrant ecosystem - but you had no control over precisely what something emerged. All you could do was gather the parts and let them self-assemble into something that worked. Walter Adey said " Ecosystems in the wild are made up of patches. You inject as many species as you can into the system and let it decide what patch of species it wants to be in. Surrendering control became one of the "Principles of Synthetic Ecology." Adey continued, " We have to accept the fact that the amount of information contained in an ecosystem far exceeds the amount contained in our heads. We are going to fail if we only try things we can control and understand." The exact details of an emerging Bio2 ecology, he warned, were beyond predicting".


As well, here's a quote ( rather long and i'm splitting it to get 2 points across- sorry but its just such a great book) from R.Kurzweil's book The Age Of Spiritual Machines about information ( Oracle, Merovingian)
and how order is created ( maybe the Matrix is just a lab...)

pg 30-31

"...consider the difference between information and noise. Information is a sequence of data that is meaningful in a process, such as the DNA code of an organism, or the bits in a computer program. Noise, on the other hand, is a random sequence. Neither noise nor information is predictable. Noise is inherently unpredictable, but carries no information. Information, however, is also unpredictable. If we can predict the future data from past data, then that furture data stops being information. For example, consider a sequence which simply alternates between zero and one(01010101...). Such a sequence is certainly orderely, and very predicatable. Specifically because it is so predictable, we do not consider it information bearing, beyond the first couple bits...."


"The Universe is a closed system ( not subject to outside influence, since there is nothing outside the Universe), so in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics, chaos increases and time slows down. In contrast, evolution is precisely not a closed system. It takes place amid great chaos, and indeed depends on the disorder in its midst, from which it draws it options for diversity. And from these options, an evolutionary process continually prunes its choices to create ever greater order. Even a crisis that appears to introduce a significant new source of chaos is likely to end up increasing - deepening- the order created by the evolutionary process."

Isn't this just great stuff?