The document compares and contrasts the systems of "The Matrix" and "thought as a system". It discusses six key similarities between the two systems: 1) You have to see them for yourself to understand them, 2) They both sustain gaps between perception and reality, 3) People are slaves to the systems, 4) The systems are pervasive, 5) It's possible to hack or perceive cracks in the systems, and 6) It may be possible to see the systems from within. The main difference is that The Matrix is portrayed as an enemy while thought is not intentionally trying to do anything.

1. The Matrix as a system vs
thought as a system
Vinay Dabholkar
vinay@catalign.com
July 22, 2015
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vs
Images: amazon.com, seekaftertruth.com. Thought as a system, David Bohm, 1994, Routledge

2. How would you know the difference
between the dream world & the real world?
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Have you ever had a dream Neo, that you were so sure was real?
What if you were unable to wake up from that dream? How would
you know the difference between the dream world and the real
world? --- Morpheus to Neo, in The Matrix

3. What are the two systems?
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4. What is the Matrix?
The Matrix is a shared computer
simulation of the world as it was in
1999 running perhaps in the year
2199. This giant computer gets its
energy from the bioelectricity of
millions of humans who are harvested
and trapped in capsules from the birth
by the machine. Every human battery
is playing some role in the dream
world. Neo is also one of the human
batteries who is a hacker in this
simulated world. Morpheus lives in a
hovercraft in the real world and
rescues people like Neo to come out of
their battery-life.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix

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What is “thought as a system”?
Thought is a system of reflexes. What is a
reflex? Knee jerks when hit on the bone.
That’s a reflex. Similarly, most of our
thoughts are reflexes to the environment
we are in. When the car ahead suddenly
breaks, foot presses the break like a
reflex. If my boss gets mad at me, then
certain thoughts spring up. Many of
these reflexes are serving useful
functions as they help us sit, walk, write,
drive and carry out umpteen other tasks
effortlessly. However, thought as a
system also has a systemic flaw. That
perpetuates conflicts like war,
oppression, depression, corruption etc.

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How are the two systems similar?

7. #1: You can’t be told what the Matrix is,
you have to see it for yourself
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“Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You
have to see it for yourself” --- Morpheus to Neo

8. #1: You have to see the reflexes in
action for yourself
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You may read tons of books, practice different methods for years,
live on a mountain retreat, do satsangs with a Guru and yet the core
set of incoherent reflexes may remain unchanged. You have to see
the movement of thought as a set of reflexes in action yourself.

9. #2: The Matrix sustains
perception-reality gap
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The real worldThe dream world
In the Matrix, Neo thinks he is a programmer and a hacker and the year
is 1999. However, in reality, he is one of the countless human batteries
supplying bioelectricity to a gigantic machine and the year is 2199. This
illusion is created & sustained by Matrix.

10. #2: Thought sustains
perception-reality gap
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Looks like boss
is mad at me.
Is he going to
fire me?
He is definitely
going to fire me!
I better start
looking out.
Oh! I was wrong
all along. He
was so nice in
the meeting.
Day-1 Day-3 Day-15
Thought can imagine a problematic scenario. And react to it as if it is already a
reality. It can sustain the imaginary “problem” in spite of contrary evidence.

11. #3: You are a slave to the Matrix
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You are a slave, Neo
“You are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else
you were born into bondage. Born into a
prison that you cannot smell or taste or
touch. A prison for your mind.”

12. #3: You are a slave of your thoughts
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The general tacit assumption in thought
is that it is just telling you the way things
are and that it is not doing anything –
that ‘you’ are inside there, deciding what
to do with the information. But I want to
say that you don’t decide what to do
with the information. The information
takes over. It runs you. Thought runs you.
Thought, however, gives the false
information that you are running it, that
you are the one who controls thought,
whereas actually thought is the one
which controls each of us.
-- Bohm, Thought as a system, p. 27
I want to fight
and win the
battle!

13. #4: The Matrix is everywhere
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The Matrix is everywhere
“The Matrix is everywhere. It is all
around us. Even now in this very room.
You can see it when you look out of the
window on when you turn on your
television. You can feel it when you go to
work, when you go to church, when you
pay your taxes. It is the world that has
been pulled over your eyes to blind you
from the truth.”
-- Morpheus to Neo

14. #4: Thought as a system is everywhere
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[Thought as a system includes] the
thoughts, the state of the body, the
emotions, and also the whole society –
the culture, the way we pass information
between us, and so on. I am not saying
that the system is everything there is.
However, the system has become so
pervasive, that it can be almost all we are
able to see much of the time.
-- Bohm, Thought as a system, p. 50

15. #5: It’s possible to hack the Matrix
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16. #5: Thought as a system has cracks
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We don’t want to regard this system as
an absolutely monolithic thing which you
can never break into. It’s actually not all
that solid. It has chinks and lets some
things through, therefore there is an
opportunity to do something. You can’t
control it, but opportunities do come up.
-- Bohm, Thought as a system, p. 79
Oh! What’s the
point of worrying
about all this
right now?

17. #6: Possible to see the Matrix
while in the Matrix
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Neo: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
Morpheus: No, Neo. I’m trying to tell you that when you’re ready, you
won’t have to.

18. #6: Possible to perceive the movement
of thought while thinking
18
If we say that thought is a reflex like any other muscular reflex – just a lot
more subtle and more complex and changeable – then we ought to be
proprioceptive with thought. Thought should be able to perceive its own
movement. That perception acts directly in the system and somehow makes a
change so that the reflex becomes inoperative. Perhaps it starts to dissolve
away a bit. -- Bohm, Thought as a system, p. 181, 216
It’s bad. I am
anxious.
I should not
be like this.
I am anxious.
It’s normal to
be anxious in
this situation.
Without
Self-perception
With
Self-perception
*
* Proprioception means self-perception

19. Are you ready for the red pill?
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To see how deep the rabbit hole goes….
If ‘yes’, welcome to the ride…
If ‘no’, enjoy the ride, anyways.

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Where does the analogy break?

21. Matrix is an enemy
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Matrix is a system Neo. That system is
our enemy… Most of the people are so
hopelessly dependent on the system that
they will fight to protect it.
-- Morpheus to Neo

22. Thought is not an enemy
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I don’t think you should think thought is
trying to do anything, any more than
your knee-jerk is trying to do anything.
Imagine endorphins have suddenly been
removed from the pain nerves, and the
brain is objecting very strongly. Thought
merely responds with reflexes aimed at
doing whatever that will reduce that
[pain] – which is what it does all the time
anyway.
-- Bohm, Thought as a system, p. 176

23. Additional References
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Chapter 39, titled “The splinter”
of the book “Perfect Brilliant
Stillness” by David Carse begins
with a dialog from “The Matrix”
https://vimeo.com/53000177
Philosophy and the Matrix:
Return to the source: A
documentary
http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Brilliant-
Stillness-David-Carse/dp/0976578301

24. Thank You
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http://www.catalign.in/2015/06/12-angry-men-and-2-movements-of-thought.html
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