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That is very black and white. Or you are the super human "savior" or you are basically "Judas".
How about being one the billions of people who go about their day completely oblivious of the real structure of their reality? If it works and one is happy, what is the harm? (The other alternative in The Matrix would have been total annihilation for both species. Machines can't "live" without energy. Humans can't live in the scorched Earth they left behind.)
Hmmm... I think technically the "matrix" would be more simulation than skeuomorphism. Though I guess you could consider the matrix skeuomorphic from the point of view of the agents, in that killing someone in the matrix is basically a skeuomorphic interface for killing someone in the real world.
Hm, or maybe it's especially not skeuomorphic for the agents - for them, matrix was the only reality (but generally, the silliness of "you die in the matrix, you die in real world" - our minds can routinely survive such, in dreams; yes, there might be some mechanism enhancing the effects ...but it would be stupid not to block it on the vessels of freed humans)





Member since:
2005-07-06
Funny. There is indeed no button, but your reference to The Matrix is deliciously ironic. Why is there a Matrix? So real human beings can be interfaced to the digital world, without mentally overburdoning them with incomprehensible digital representations. The Matrix is the ultimate in skeuomorphism.
It's the same with our UI conventions. People need crutches to be able to communicate with digital entities. The more relatable something is, the easier it is to work with. So don't discount "the button that wasn't". It helps tremendously with finding our way in the endless patterns of on and off.