A whole new worldview, or yes, real? (There is a certain level of spoilers, it is recommended to read the movie after watching the movie.)

Alexa 2022-03-15 09:01:03

As a commercial film, the visual effects, length of the film and the intelligibility of the plot need to be considered, so the story seems a bit simple and has omissions. But as an exploration of the future world and an understanding of the nature of the world, this story is enough to make people think deeply, because it is a brand-new world view, and even tends to the realm of enlightenment.

The world presented by quantum mechanics has many similarities with the explanation given by Buddhism. The phenomenon of "entanglement" that occurs in particles is what Einstein called "spooky interactions between distant locations." The original point of the big bang was a point smaller than an atom, and the constantly enriched and diffused world produced by the explosion, our universe, is also composed of an infinite number of particles, and if all the particles were originally One point, are they entangled with each other? If it exists, it may not be the definition of "entanglement" as we know it, but it is similar to the Buddhist saying that all things are interconnected, and all things have one quality.

The void that Buddhism talks about is also similar to the quantum world. All visible and touchable matter is composed of atoms, and atoms themselves are composed of 99.999999999999% of the space. What we can touch is not the material itself. The feeling of touch is actually the repulsion between particles, similar to the repulsion of the same level of magnets. Under such an understanding, the world we live in is actually not as clear-cut as we see it, but an ocean of quantum. Between people, between people and things, between things and things are all interrelated, and they are all composed of the same or even homologous particles, so there is no difference, and they are integrated with each other. It’s just that we are obsessed with the experience brought about by our senses, and we are forced and unwilling to accept such subversive interpretations. This may be the reason why the film is named "Transcendence". (Note: The English name Transcendence is translated directly as "transcendence", and the word "hacker" is added for box office considerations.)

It seems that it has gone too far. If we go back to the film itself, we can interpret it at different levels. The direct discussion is about human faith in humanity. Evelyn finally realizes that he doesn't recognize Will's reality, suggesting that human's own instinctive response to incomprehensible rapid changes is fear and doubt. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to matter whether the creature that combines Will's consciousness with the quantum computer is still Will, or thinks it is Will's computer. Because it clearly knows what it is doing, and the development of the plot is completely in its plan. This is a world that tends to accommodate. The world Will creates is a realm that tends to converge. Maybe everyone becomes Will, which sounds terrifying, as if human nature no longer exists, as if controlled. But in fact everyone can perceive the world from Will's perspective, and they all have his abilities. (Here I can't help but think of the great fusion at the end of Evangelion.) If everyone can become a Buddha, then it will be the realm of Buddha without distinction, and also the realm of being free from the shackles of human nature.

The film offers an optimistic way of reaching this state, not by meditation, but by gathering all human wisdom and information, calculated at high speed. This is also the biggest omission of the story, and there are many logics that can be attacked. Humanity may be wiped out in war or nuclear explosion (or from nuclear bombs, or nuclear power based on fusion or fission in the future) even before reaching that state, but it has to be said that the path in the story is very optimistic and A possibility of beauty is based on the goodness of human nature, or the Buddha nature that everyone has. Not limited to a Buddhist perspective, but Buddha-nature is the closest word I know.

After watching the movie, I thought a lot about it, so let's record it here first.
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Extended Reading

Transcendence quotes

  • Max Waters: I spent my life trying to reduce the brain to a series of electrical impulses. I failed. Human emotion, it can contain illogical conflict. Can love someone, and yet hate the things that they've done. Machine can't reconcile that.

    Evelyn Caster: Can you?

    Max Waters: Yes.

  • [first lines]

    Max Waters: They say there's power in Boston. Some phone service in Denver. But things are far from what they were. Maybe it was all invevitable. An unavoidable collision between mankind and technology. The Internet was meant to make the world a smaller place. But it actually feels smaller without it. I knew Will and Evelyn Caster better than anyone. I knew their brillance. Their dedication to what they believed in. And to what they loved.