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Re: escapism

Isn't it ironic that a being called "mouse", an ANIMAL no less, would assert 
that impulsive behavior is characteristically human.  I shall say no more 
other than I strongly contend with your idea that Buddhism teaches the way 
to enlightment is through giving in to desire, unless you are talking about 
certain forms of nihilistic/hedonistic Western Buddism such as a Buddhist 
colony/club I've heard about in Hawai of all places.  Unfortunately, 
Westerners have managed to pervert even one of the worlds greatest and most 
ethical religions in their pursuit of pleasure and self indulgence.  The 
essence of true Buddhism is contained within the Four Noble Truths and 
corresponding Eight Fold Path, and anything that contradicts this essential 
denial of sensory impulse should in no way be considered real Buddhism (in 
my humble and somewhat educated opinion).


>From: Don Smith <dasmith at rotse2_physics.lsa.umich.edu>
>Reply-To: Don Smith <dasmith at rotse2_physics.lsa.umich.edu>
>To: Over-the-Rhine at actwin_com (Over the Rhine List)
>Subject: Re: escapism
>Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 14:07:54 -0500 (EST)
>
>Ysobelle wrote:
> > Sigh. I adore you, Don. I really do.
>
>[blush]  Oh, thtop it.  ;-)
>
> > Anyway, in response to the above, I'm not sure I follow your point.
>
>Hm... I guess I was a little oblique.  I think I was trying to get *too*
>specific, in case there's someone on the planet who hasn't seen this yet.  
>:-)
>But, as long as we're in it (in the immortal words of Marty DiBergi), let's
>boogie!
>
> > How do you define impulse?
>
>Well, let's see if we can figure out how the film is defining impulse.  
>Mouse
>tells Neo he can arrange a "more personal" interaction with the woman in 
>red,
>nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more.  Switch and Apoc react with scorn, and 
>one
>of them says "the digital pimp, hard at work".  Mouse says "Pay no 
>attention to
>these hypocrites, Neo.  To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing
>which makes us human."  In that context, impulse seems to mean (at least)
>sexual desire, although Mouse seems to be making a generalization out of 
>the
>specific instance of the woman in red.  (It does seem to me ironic in the
>extreme that he's talking about gratifying that desire, i.e. being "human",
>within a simulated environment, with no other actual human being involved.) 
>  If
>that generalization of "impulse" can be extended beyond the merely sexual
>(satisfying our sexual urges is the "very thing" that makes us human?  Is 
>that
>really what the film is trying to say?), the natural interpretation seems 
>to me
>to be other drives like the sexual.  Which, of course, are satisfied 
>through
>sensory input, which is the very thing the Matrix is calling into question.
>Which brings us to Cypher.
>
>But before I get to Cypher, let me wonder about "impulse".  He definitely 
>says
>*impulse*, and not "drives", or "hungers" or some other word.  An "impulse" 
>is
>usually something spontaneous and forceful (hence, "impulsive").  Usually 
>it is
>not associated with reflection and rational thought (rationality being what 
>is
>often suggested as that which makes us human); one has an impulse to do
>something, and then one must choose to do it or not.  Usually, I think, it 
>is
>more common to think about other animals acting impulsively, but *humans* 
>have
>the capacity to think about whether following the impulse is the "right" 
>thing
>to do (by whatever criteria one uses to decide such things).  Whole 
>religions
>(buddhism in particular) are based in *precisely* the idea that to deny our
>impulses is the way to enlightenment, the purpose of being human.  Mouse is
>turning all this on its head.  In what seems to be a throwaway line, no 
>less.
>Is he implying that to try to achieve enlightenment is actually *denying* 
>our
>humanity rather than fulfilling it?
>
>So, Cypher.  He has the impulse to want to eat steak and live more 
>comfortably.
>He makes the point that he's not "free" outside the Matrix, because he just
>follows orders.  He chooses to follow those impulses to ask to get 
>re-plugged
>back into the Matrix.  However, it seems to me that the rest of the film is
>implying that the people *outside* the Matrix are more human than those 
>inside.
>Switch calls Neo "coppertop" (a reference to the duracell battery, I 
>assume)
>while he's still plugged in.  Tank refers to himself as 100% human, born 
>and
>raised in Zion.  All the outsiders seem to feel that they are more "human" 
>than
>the people still trapped in the system.  So I was saying Cypher seemed to
>undercut Mouse's statement because by following his impulses, he was trying 
>to
>get put *back* in the Matrix, which would make him, in the context of the 
>film,
>*less* human.  Alternatively, since following his impulses leads Cypher to
>betrayal, which the film certainly seems to present as contemptable (or am 
>I
>projecting?), the film seems to be implying that Cypher should have denied
>those impulses and accepted the harsh realities of life on the 
>Nebuchadnezzar,
>in contrast to Mouse's implication that denying impulses was bad.
>
>Any ideas?
>--
>Don Smith                          Robotic Optical Transient Search 
>Experiment
>donaldas at umich_edu                                
>http://xte.mit.edu/~dasmith/
>
>"In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd" - Miguel 
>de Unamuno
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