Reflection on Research

 Starting this semester I was terrible doing research and just writing in general. I did learn that when writing a paper you should always plan out the ideas that you have planned for the essay.  I will be using outlines more often and gathering research without procrastination. Doing research from the library has been very useful, and even though I really didn’t understand it in the beginning after using it quite a bit I fell more comfortable using it. I also, feel that after this class I will be more careful and try to stay on topic and not write about irrelevant topics in one essay.  This class has also pushed me in to incorporating quotes in my essays to support my ideas. The one thing I still feel I’m having a complicated time with is my works cited in MLA form. The citing confuses me and I would want more practice in it, but I feel that I do understand it better than when I came in to this class. Research in this class has also made realize that there is a lot of information out there for us to explore and learn from. Researching has also made me realize that all the information that is out to find, is not all accurate. There also some sources that are based on research done by other reader’s and their understandings. The writing process and good research are vital for a good accurate research paper. The MLA style is different from other forms of citing but it’s the most common.                                

Matrix rough draft

The Matrix is a movie that has many philosophical themes that are included and it was a very complex movie in which we had to pay a lot of attention. In the movie there were many parts that at first we don’t see to have any relation to philosophy, but in a later film that we watched on the Philosophy of the Matrix, it showed the relations between both. The biggest question that arouses throughout the movie was figuring out “What is real?” which I find relatively similar to the theory of immaterialism, by George Berkeley.

            Mr. Anderson is Keanu Reeves before he joins the Matrix and becomes Neo. Neo was chosen by Morpheus, he saw that Neo was the “chosen one”. When the people of the Matrix wanted to get in touch with Neo they do it through the computer and tell him to follow the white rabbit. A while after he saw a girl that had a tattoo of a white rabbit, when this occurred I made a connection to The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. This movie had a lot of other connections, for example, it made connection with Through the Looking Glass.

                A very big connection I found was between the theory of Immaterialism by George Berkeley and the movie. A part of the movie in which this topic is very relevant is when Neo and Morpheus go and visit the Oracle, Neo walks in to the family room of the Oracle’s apartment and he sees a skinny boy bending the spoon. When Neo, sees this boy a great amount of interest grew in him. The Spoon Boy, told Neo that the truth was that there is no spoon, and then he will see that it is not the spoon that bends it is only himself.

            I found this part of the movie to have direct connection to George Berkeley’s theory of Immaterialism. Berkeley believed that there are no objects in reality and that they are all perceived. Most objects that we believe we see such as tables and chairs are perceptions of our minds and only exist in our minds. If a person doesn’t perceive an object then there is no object.

            Berkeley’s theory also comes in connection to the Matrix when Neo is given his first meal in the Matrix and realizes that it looks like a soup and it’s called dinner for champions. All the food they are given is exactly the same but it’s their minds that perceive what they are eating.  How their food taste like is what their minds make them believe. An example that George Berkeley used when describing his theory was that when you think of a cherry you perceive the sensible qualities such as the colors, flavors, and textures. All perceptions are very reasonable and natural.

            A different part of the movie that was very big in perception was in Neo’s first day of training. Morpheus and Neo were fighting each other, and obviously Neo didn’t believe in himself and Morpheus gave him a beating. After this Morpheus told Neo if he believed that he was stronger than that and Neo didn’t believe deep in his mind. After a moment Morpheus jumped to the next rooftop and Neo thought he could do it but didn’t believe, he failed like it was expected by the rest of the members. Morpheus told Neo that it is his mind that makes it real and that he has to believe in himself in order to accomplish what they believe he could accomplish.

            The way that Morpheus tells Neo that he has to have fate and believe is all forms of perceptions that the mind makes. The reality and truth all come from the mind according to Morpheus and George Berkeley. They all become perception of our mind.

            Neo starts perceiving that he is stronger and that he could do what he believes when he goes back and saves Morpheus with the help of Trinity. When Neo’s mind started perceiving that he was stronger, faster and the chosen one he became the person that everybody else believed he was. All that was needed for him to be this guy, was his own fate and believing in himself.

George Berkeley's immaterialism theory

George Berkeley his first theory was first called Immaterialism and later became known as subjective idealism. The theory denies the exisistence of any materialistic objects such as tables and chairs, this theory says that tables and chairs are notions of the mind of the perceivers. in other words they have to be perceived in order for them to exsist.
Berkeley's contribution to philosophy is his thorogh thought of perceiving all the things surrounding us and that they are nothing but ideas. This theory also relates to humans, that when we move our bodies it is only certain sensations we perceive. Berkeley began the use of  "notion" to replace "ideas" because he believed that "idea" was with regards to objects of refelection and notion is for the spirits.
Regarding God he believed that there are some other will or spirit that produces them referring to a sense of sight. He also mentions that there is nothing seperating man from God except maerial misconceptions.
In reagrds to the movie The Matrix I believe George Berkeley's theory had direct connectionsn to the movie when Neo goes and talks to the oracle and speaks with a little girl that is bending  a spoon and the girls says it isn't the spoon bending is you that is bending with it.