The most famous choice in science fiction is epistemically impossible to make rationally. Morpheus offers Neo ’the truth’ but gives him no way to evaluate the offer. Cypher’s decision to go back is more philosophically coherent than the films acknowledge.
The Oracle is the most interesting character in The Matrix for anyone who thinks about AI alignment. She systematically lies to Neo for his own good. The films present this as wisdom. I think it is a cautionary tale the Wachowskis didn’t know they were writing.
“Aus der Nähe betrachtet ist keiner normal.” The slogan of a Sozialpsychiatrisches Zentrum sounds compassionate. It is, under scrutiny, a gift to everyone who has ever said “but everyone gets depressed sometimes.” It attacks a concept psychiatry abandoned decades ago, dilutes the clinical categories people with severe conditions need to be taken seriously, and — most ironically — argues against the relevance of its own institution. A Karneval roast, with citations.