»The reason the Oracle can see the future....«

According to the architect, the Oracle STUMBLED upon a solution in which 99.9% of people accepted the 'program'.

Is the 'program' the same thing as the 'Matrix' in this context?

I honestly don't know. I always looked at the Matrix as the 'operating system' like Windows and the machine city as the hardware itself, like your computer.

Obviously, since the Oracle came up with the 'solution' that made the Matrix more real to the humans, she had to design it as she saw fit. So basically this is why she has a pretty unlmited scope into the future within the Matrix, right? Since she came up with the solution, I would say that the Architect was the 'former' designer of the Matrix.

Which brings up an interesting question....

The question is....At what point did the Oracle stumble upon her solution? Was it after the failure of the second Matrix? After all, the first Matrix the Architect designed was a 'Utopia' which loads of people wouldn't accept as real. Since every human carries the imperfection trait, he designed it based on their history (his second try at the Matrix). He was 'frustrated by failure' again, so the answer was stumbled upon by the Oracle. Would this be the third Matrix that her solution came into effect in?

Pointless thread #3....or 4....damn, I've lost count.

You seem to be the only person, along with A.G. (that snobby S.O.B.) that thinks my posts are pointless.

I like to bring up interesting topics. Maybe I'm no genius like some people in here, but I want to be a part of this website without people like you getting on my case. Now BACK OFF.

True, BigMista. Looks like I'm not the only one to think that some people here should learn how to make constructive critics.

I dont see this post as pointless. BigMista is trying to understand some things that he might have not thought about before.

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Is the 'program' the same thing as the 'Matrix' in this context?

Yes many believe that the Architect is reffering to the Matrix.

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At what point did the Oracle stumble upon her solution? Was it after the failure of the second Matrix?

Yes. The choice-version which the Oracle thought of was the 3rd version of the Matrix.

Here is what I think happened. The Oracle realized that the human beings wouldn't accept the program unless they were given a choice. So she had to design the program such that human beings were given as much power of choice as possible while still maintaining the integrity of the program.

In Revolutions, the Oracle states that the Architect's purpose is to balance the equation, while her purpose is to unbalance it. So one could say that the Oracle's purpose is to manage things from the human perspective, while the Architect is to take the machine perspective.(The Architect can't understand choice-to him they are variables in an unbalanced equation.)

As such, the Oracle had to become a keen expert in human nature, and in particular, choice. She becomes such an expert that she learns to make choices herself.(Some of the other sentient programs gain this ability, too, but she becomes the absolute master of it.) As such, she understands choice to the point that she already knows what choice any given person will make in any given circumstance, and the consequences thereof. She also understands that each little choice is based on larger, more fundamental choices that have already been made.("You didn't come here to make a choice. You've already made it. You're here to understand why you made it.") That is how she is able to predict the outcome of the future before it happens.

That also explains her sometimes cryptic answers. She tells people 'exactly what they need to hear,' not necessarily the straightforward truth. She knew that Neo would become the One eventually, but what would have happened had she told him that? Would Neo have risked his life as readily to save Morpheus had she told him he was the One when he wasn't yet convinced what he was capable of? He may very well have thought, "Well, yeah, I'm the One, but I'm not powerful enough to save Morpheus, and so I need to save myself for the good of humanity." Instead, by letting Neo believe that he wasn't the One after all and Morpheus was sacrificing his life on a mistake, he then is willing to take the chance(which, based on the Oracle's instructions, he does know will succeed) to rescue Morpheus, and it is through this experience that Neo becomes the one.(It even explains why she chooses to appear as a black grandmotherly figure living in a 70's Harlem-esque apartment, rather than looking like a white-haired prophetess in some grand shrine.)

The Architect, on the other hand, thinking solely in terms of logic and balancing equations, will say things exactly as they are, giving you precise information, not because he doesn't care about the consequences, but because he doesn't understand them.("We may not be able to see past our own choices, but that man can't see past any choice. He doesn't understand them. He can't.")

Now, were there an Oracle in our world today, she probably wouldn't be able to predict the future with such complete accuracy, due to environmental and natural factors beyond human control. But in a controlled, programmed environment like the Matrix, such a complete understanding of choice is all that is needed to predict the future the way that the Oracle does.

Good job. I agree with practically everything. You have a good understanding of the fundamental concepts of the Matrix.

There is one thing I did not agree with, however.

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She becomes such an expert that she learns to make choices herself.(Some of the other sentient programs gain this ability, too, but she becomes the absolute master of it.)

I think it is implied pretty clearly that all sentient programs and machines are able to choose. By virtue of being AI; of being a life form, they have the power to choose. The Oracle isn't the only one.

Why was the Architect not able to choose? Is he not sentient?

It isn't so much that the Architect can't choose. It's more that he doesn't understand the concept of choice, like the Frenchman. As the Oracle said, "That man can't see past any choice. He doesn't understand them, he can't. To him, they're variables in an equation."

...don't take my word for that quote, I prolly fucked some of it up.

You got the quote right, but it looks like we understood the quote differently. I understood it to mean that the Architect's thinking was so basic that he could only pick the option that resulted in the equation being balanced, which would mean that he wasn't really choosing-he was just solving equations.

That could be an inaccurate interpretation of that quote, though.

Actually, that's a pretty good interpretation. Props to you, I didn't think about it that way. I figured that the Architect either shared the Merovingian's philosphy about causality or chose not to choose. Props again!

Interesting comparison to the Merovingian. I hadn't even thought of him in my interpretation, but now that you bring him up, his perspective is also an important one. Unlike the Oracle, he sees everything in terms of cause and effect. Action and reaction. He even dismisses the notion of choice as 'an illusion.'

On the other hand, there seems to be a difference between him and the Architect. While the Architect's view is of entities being 'pulled,' the Merovingian's view is of entities being 'pushed.'

The Architect sees everything in terms of an unbalanced equation. There is a void to be filled, and something must be placed to fill that void, and only the something that perfectly fits that empty space can be used to fill that void, whether that be a program, an action, or a person. The most obvious example of this is his view of the existence of Neo, which he reduces to the result of 'the remainder of an unbalanced equation.'

The Merovingian, on the other hand, sees everything as a reaction to something else, even the actions of sentient entities. This seems similar to the Oracle's perspective, but with one crucial difference. From the Merovingian's perspective, the action of an entity, be it human or sentient program, is the only action that entity _can_ take in response to a given stimulus. From the Oracle's perspective, there are many actions that given entity can take, but she knows which action the entity _will_ take.

The Merovingian is an expert in the art of manipulation based upon his view of cause and effect, but there are still imperfections in his model, as illustrated by Persephone's betrayal in Reloaded, and his surprise at Trinity's pulling a gun to his head in Revolutions.

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