I hated this too. Also, there’s not enough sunlight to maintain the farms to feed these kids, etc.
The explanation that occured to me was we (supposedly) are in the Matrix; that everything we know about physics is a lie, so in the “real” world, this would work.
But then, how did the machines let this movie get made?
Duh, Morpheus explains that the dead are liquified to be fed to the living. It’s an endless source of food. Seriously, if you can’t be bothered to pay attention, I don’t know why you even try to participate.
Hmm. Batteries don’t produce energy: they store it. Perhaps the machines need to keep energy in a more accessable form than pure hydrocarbons?
No, it doesn’t make sense. But no less than the rest of the movie.
why exactly do you assume concervation of energy? odviously in the simulation you live in it works that way, but why assume everything works the same way in the real world? anything you know about physics is only about matrix physics.
And why would machines want to use messy, fragile biological things as an energy source anyway? Just fire up the nuke plants. It’s not like the machines are going to care much about any possible radiation.
As for the “it’s just a MacGuffin” justification: if people are distracted by the MacGuffin and start saying, “that doesn’t make any sense!” then the MacGuffin has failed in its purpose. The MacGuffin exists to move the story along, not to call attention to itself.
Is that so? I’m not very familiar with the concept of a MacGuffin, but I always thought one of the archetypal examples was the contents of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. And isn’t “what’s in the briefcase” one of the most-asked questions about that film? It certainly seemed to call attention to itself.
Well, the Matrix’s program chose to simulate “the worst period of human history,” the mid-1990s. How long it’s been running the simulation, and if the computer just resets the clock after a set time, we don’t know. But since it’s simulating human society, can we assume that that the “history” that would lead up to that point had actually happened in the real world? So all human advancements that exist in the Matrix’s sim would have actually existed in the ‘real world,’ which makes it necessary that the laws of physics are the same - or at least work the same as far as we know.
Oops. That was in reply to owlofcreamcheese’s post.
Wait a minute. “Worst period”? Didn’t Agent Smith describe it different? Like, the opposite of that?
Agent Smith addressed that. He said that in the first version of the matrix, they made a perfect world for the humans to reside in. Humans didn’t accept it and because of that, quite a lot died(“Entire crops were lost”). One supposes that something similar would happen if everyone saw themselves as enternally in padded cells. Probably just giving up the will to live. People apparently need a realistic world or people die off in droves because they realize it isn’t real(or can’t handle the reality).
I don’t get why most people assume that the batteries theory IS true. I mean, we have no idea how Morpheus and the others came by this theory; all we see are some clips as Morpheus explains it. It could be anything else. Morpheus could be completely wrong.
I’ve seen this topic appear in so many forums that it’s starting to resemble the ‘Where is Springfield?’ debate. It just drags on and on and on. I’m starting to believe the Wachowski Brothers put it in ahead of time just to mess with all the future fanboys. Then, at the end of the trilogy, they come out and tell us what the matrix REALLY does. Those wily bastards. 
Here’s another possible explanation. Maybe what we in the matrix know as ‘the second law of thermodynamics’ is just another rule of the game. Maybe the machines arbitrarily decided to add this law to mess with the people’s heads. Meanwhile, in the real world, there is a perpetual motion machine in every home and people only leave the house to buy porn.
I still enjoyed the movie, regardless of the flaws. I’m sure when I go see the sequels I will enjoy them too. Again, regardless of any flaws that might be present.
Why would Agent Smith have referred to humans as “crops” otherwise?
You’re right, that isn’t an exact quote. I thought it was, but I see that it isn’t. Thanks for calling me on that, or I wouldn’t have found this:
Smith related it as:
fromhere
I took this to mean that it was mankind’s ‘peak’ of ‘misery and suffering,’ which would then make this era of human history the best setting in which to put people since they seemed to thrive there. Certainly it’s not the peak of technical innovation, since they have yet to go and build a bunch of intelligent robots. Smith’s view of humanity’s peak might be different from yours or mine, right?
Whew, I moved like they do.
Okay, yeah, I guess it is somewhat ambiguous. I had assumed that it meant that the quality of life was the highest in history. So, it was good enough to keep them happy, but bad enough (because it was based on the real world, not a utopia) to keep it believable.
Oops, looks like someone beat me to this possible theory.
And someone else already posted a counter argument too.
Oh well. :smack:
Like CyberPundit, maybe the machines like the energy after it has been processed through humans better than in it’s original form. Look at cows. If some alien thing read a book about us, they might have a similar “Humans wouldn’t raise cows for meat, it doesn’t make sense. They would have to put much more food into the cow than they would be able to get out at the end”. So who know, maybe the machines really don’t make anymore sense than we do?
(Furthermore the only real reason to watch this film is to see Hugo Weaving… drool)
Sorry, like CyberPundit said (and I proofread that thing before I posted it…)
Do people lack the ability understand metaphors anymore
I thought I was a stroke genius to have machines using people as batteries, Fight Club the hit on the same idea “the things you own, end up owning you.”
When ever I watch the scene where Neo wakes up I’m reminded of the Dilbert strip where Dilbert is talking Zimboo the monkey.
Zimboo: When monkeys evolve past human we will put you all into boxes with their names on it.
Dilbert: Human’s will never submit to that. No get out my cubicle
Zimboo: Box
Dilbert: Cubicle
Zimboo: Box
Same idea just using a monkey instead of machine to get the point across
It’s not meant to be realistic meant to make you think, use the right side of you brain for once.
Yep. See, instead of humans using machines for power, get this: the machines are using the HUMANS for power! Dude, that’s like, twisted. To quote Keanu: “Whoah!” That’s like, you know, the opposite of what you’d expect. Or something. Man that’s…freaky.