psyche

I’m going to attempt to define what it is about The Matrix and SEL that captivates me - apart from the whole computers thing. It’s related but not actually dependent on the computers. It’s a certain interpretation of the “quest for esoteric truth” thing; I’m going to call it the secret hacker question because it seems to involve hackers. “What is The Matrix?” and “Who is Lain?” (sometimes “Have you ever seen the Lain?” [sic]) are the two questions in question (ha ha ha).

They both deal with a truth that seems to be just out of reach and theoretically attainable, if only you could find them. It’s not that they don’t exist - you just have to find them. The whole way the concept is merged with social withdrawal, hacking, suburbanity (not a word, I know) and conspiracy theories is just very interesting. It’s the feeling that many people are searching for some answer and that it has a sort of modern but still mythical feel about it. It’s actually rather harder to quantify than I first thought. I’m sure you kind of know what I mean. You must know.

Pax