MovieChat Forums > The Matrix (1999) Discussion > So much work for batteries makes no sens...

So much work for batteries makes no sense

posted 2 years ago by avortac4 (3669)
7 replies | jump to latest

It's almost as if, does one battery even give them enough energy to cover the energy costs of manufacturing a pod, creating the liquid, maintaining the pod, constantly adjusting to the body's 'growing needs' (on more level than one), constantly having to re-adjust the plugs (surely they can't use the same plugs and cables for a newborn baby as they use for an adult?), keep their muscles moving so
they don't completely atrophy (Neo wouldn't have usable enough muscles to stand up if they didn't do this), pump air in and out of the lungs, nutrients, energy fields, ..

I mean, if you think how much work there is to add one battery, then maintain that battery, it doesn't make sense how carelessly and easily they just kill these batteries. Think of the actions of almost any agent in the movie - they don't care about the batteries, they kill them willy-nilly, take their bodies over and so on.

Considering ALL this, and considering the A.I. was able to make buildings that do not have to take over actual buildings' bodies (as strange as that sounds), cars, roads, grass, plantlife, trees, forests, animals, mountains..

.. why can't they make AGENTS that do not need a battery body to operate in the world? Why can't they make an agent system that doesn't _ABSOLUTELY_WASTE_ this
precious - maybe their MOST precious - resource the machines work SO HARD just to
maintain?

Does anyone have the reason? Why would they do it in such a wasteful way, when
maintaining just ONE battery is already so much work?

It makes no sense to work this hard for the batteries, and then treat them as if they're nothing valuable at all, and even build your agent system to WASTE the
batteries because they can't exist outside of them. Each agent needs one (random?)
battery to operate for some reason. This is incredibly wasteful..

..OR..

..it's incredibly stupid that they LET their batteries 'live out their lives', if they do not need them to be conscious to be usable. Couldn't the machines simply
occupy EVERY SINGLE human being's body, so that they wouldn't have anyone roaming
around free? This would of course make the whole Matrix unnecessary, which WOULD
be the most logical thing a machine 'race' like this could ever do. So why
not do it this way instead of the cumbersome, messy, wasteful and illogical way?

I know, the TRUE answer is: "So the movie can happen". Sigh.

[–] greenjaden (2) a year ago

I thought the same thing. It's a major flaw in the movie. It makes no sense that the purpose of using the humans is just to use them as an energy source. Surely there are many easier ways to harvest energy from the planet than using the electrical current generated by humans.

[–] Michigander (86) a year ago

Yes this issue with the movie has been discussed before. It was a poorly written part to get the movie going and to have a reason for The Matrix.

[–] Luffy (852) a year ago

The original idea was for the machines to exploit humans for their 'brain power'. I thought that was more plausible. But they went with the now infamous battery motive.

[–] JoeBlow88 (552) a year ago

The machines seemed to function like humans with regard to wars, it took prisoners. And it had some compassion for its creator. There were millions of prisoners of a war. Rather than labour camps the machines used humans to generate some power, think the movie mentions it is combined with fusion too.

Humans had never made peace with the machine AI and the war continued, thus the PoW and their decadents remained in captivity.

The machines seemed to have some emotions, they can get angry, and perhaps they enjoy the virtual world filled with random unique humans. It is a very complex system and can provide the AI's with entertainment or help with its learning.

The machines went to great length to make humans comfortable. For some reason the machines allowed natural selection to continue by allowing humans to choose/compete for mates in the matrix. I think the machines matched DNA of parents with new babies.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

What's even sillier is the idea that an adult who'd spent his life immobile in a pod, never using his muscles once as he grew up confined, would turn into a fit healthy young man who could be a whiz at martial arts, after a few days of passive motion and exercising!

I can tell you about what long-term immobility does to the human body if anyone is interested, but probably not. So I'll just say that this is one of those movies where it's best to just enjoy the cool look of it, and never think too hard about the details.

[–] Moonglum9 (10852) a year ago

Well to be fair, the martial arts stuff took place in the matrix, not in the real world. But yeah, people in long term comas would generally be all emaciated and all their muscles would be atrophied to the point of uselessness initially.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

Not only would the muscles be completely atrophied, and skeletal growth limited, the joints would be frozen due to "contractures"! If a person is unable to move for long periods of time and has nobody to move their joints for them in range of motion exercises, the joints freeze up and become calcified. So a person who'd been in a pod from birth to age 30-odd would be completely unable to move, all their joints would be frozen into positions like this.

https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.fb8b681835716a45b2d7ab81b735559a?rik=RnnLPMBbQCj6Ng&riu=http%3a%2f%2fmobilephysiotherapyclinic.net%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2018%2f10%2fadductor-policis-muscle-deformity.jpg&ehk=4pxx%2fsIUs3kMm9L%2bEkWBqDYEoG3Ttl%2bgzFtDKiMw3Zs%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

So seriously, I am very fond of "The Matrix", it's a heck of a movie, but it doesn't do to think about it too closely. I'm no physicist so I can't tell you exactly how silly the idea of using humans as batteries is, but I CAN tell you how ridiculous the idea that rescued pod people are soon fit, muscular, and active adults is.