num_pages: 272
description: We live on the cusp of change. Reality has already spawned one alternate state. Virtual reality is where some are most at home. But what happens when virtual worlds become indistinguishable from the real? Waking from a dream, how do you know you aren't still dreaming? If the reality we're in is virtual, who's doing the programming? These kinds of questions spin effortlessly out of the box-office megahit The Matrix. More than just a computer-aided shoot-'em-up, more than just another expression of cyberpunk angst, it presents layers of explorations of what the nature of reality might be &amp; why this should or shouldn't be important. Exploring the Matrix presents 18 provoking essays on what the film had to say &amp; how it was said. You'll discover the history of some themes set forth in the Wachowski Brothers' film, why they're important, how they've been explored &amp; their implications for the future. The true nature of reality in our current cyber-age isn't a rhetorical question, but one that must be answered as approach seamless virtual scenarios, accessible online, in video games &amp; perhaps as the result of uploading software to an implanted chip in the brain. Take the blue pill &amp; stay in the dream or take the red &amp; see how deep the rabbit hole goes.Introduction/ Pat CadiganEvery other movie is the blue pill/ Bruce Sterling The real matrix/ Stephen BaxterThe matrix: know thyself/ John ShirleyArt imitates life (yes, it's news)/ Darrel AndersonLiterary influences on the matrix/ Paul Di FilippoMore than you'll ever know: down the rabbit hole of the matrix/ Kathleen Ann GoonanThe matrix &amp; the star maker/ Mike ResnickYuen Woo-Ping &amp; the art of flying/ Walter Jon Williams Alice in metropolis or it's all done with mirrors/ Dean Motter The matrix as simulcrum/ Ian WatsonThe matrix as sci-fi/ Joe Haldeman Tomorrow may be different/ David Brin Revenge of the nerds, part X/ Alan Dean FosterReflections in a cyber eye/ Karen HaberMeditations on the singular matrix/ James Patrick KellyThe matrix made me do it/ Kevin J. Anderson Dreaming real/ Rick BerryAbout the Authors
language: English
title: Exploring the Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present
titlecomplete: Exploring the Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present
genres: Philosophy, Cyberpunk, Nonfiction, Essays, Film
ratings_count: 77
publisher: St. Martin's Press (NY)