The anomaly (again, sorry)

The anomaly!


Yeah I know, there have been hundreds and hundreds of threads about the anomaly but I noticed that most of you people don't understand what it really is. I don't know if other people have found this answer but I haven't read it anywhere so I thought: well, why not give it a try. If it's allready said, sorry (I'm pretty new around here).


The anomaly occurs when the Matrix-program is written (according to the Architect). And it has to do with the part of the program that gives people choices so they will accept the Matrix and not reject it. The anomaly is also inherent to the program.
I believe that the anomaly is the freedom the make your own choices. The Matrix gives you two choices, two doors of which you have to choose one. But there is also the possibility to create your own door, your own path to follow. Only 1% of the people is aware of this, is conscious enough to create their own paths/destiny's. This is also called disobedience by Morpheus in M2. He says to the other captains in the beginning of the movie that they all have an affinity for disobedience (otherwise they wouldn't have been there).

Well, I hope it's kind of usefull. It's my first thread so I hope a lot of people will react on this subject.

Neo: Hiya, fellas.
[agent 1] It's him.
[agent 2] The Anomaly.
[agent 3] Do we proceed?
[agent 2] Yes.
[agent 3] He is still...
[agent 1]...only human.

Does that prove anything or am i just being an idiot?

Good point, I haven't thought about that at all. But then again, why do the agents want to kill Neo when he has to go to the source to reinsert the code that he carries with him?? Maybe the agents are not what we think they are.

Dark Derek - read my post called the Matrix Explained? as I can't write it all again.

But yes you are right, the 1% is the 'systemic' anomaly that threatens to crash the system.

Oops - sorry. You need to look under 'There is no spoon' for this thread.

The scientist.

The real question is not whether there is choice or not but rather whether humans percieve it to be so.

The little boy in the Oracle's apartment M1 tells Neo the truth, "Do not try to bend the spoon, try only to realize that there is no spoon and that you can only bend yourself"

Let me put it another way, if we accpet that God knows all possible futures, does that me that no real choice exists?

The answer of course if "No" choices exist, but the outcome is the same. Much has been written about the anomaly, and the only real fact about the anomaly is that it relates to something that is distinctly human. Which of us can separate our emotions, love from hope, hope from faith, faith from love?

All of the answers are probably partially right, but none of them are complete, the answer is much simpler, the anomaly is human

Well anaomly 666, I don't really know what you mean by the part about choices and that the outcome is all the same. If it's all the same then why bother making choices??
And what does God have to do with all this? It's true that some people can see the future (or parts of it) and they can tell very specific things about your life, about the things that happen, about the people you meet. So, if they can tell that it happens then that means that it is supposed to happen. It is meant to happen. But what about choice??? I think that you can choose whether it happens or not.

And you should be a little bit more specific about your statement regarding the anomaly: do you mean that the anomaly is human or is it something inherent to humans?? I would love some explanations.

hmm... You guys have bought up some interesting arguments here, but i still believe what i believed from the very beginning.
The anomaly is Neo's love for Trinity. The first five Neos, chose to go to the source. The 6th Neo, chose to go back into the Matrix. Why? To save Trinity. Why? Because he loved her.
Ergo, the anomaly is Neo's love for Trinity, thats what made him different.

i've seen a number of things about Neo and Trinity's love being the anomaly, but is it not true that the anomaly existed before Neo, and in fact Neo is the outcome of the anomaly? if so, than how can his love be the anomaly?

Neo is the sum of a remainder in an equation.... He is the anomaly, or, he carries it within himself.

Dark Derk - Apologies for bringing religion into these discussions, however they provide an excellent parallel to the film.

Consider that God loves us unconditionally and therefore allows us fee will to choose badly ... why? . . . . because we must realize why our choice is bad it cannot simply be told, spiritual growth comes from making bad choices an feeling the consequences. If we believe in the faith we also accept that the outcome is that humanity is eventually saved ... the outcome is a constant the choices are not.

A similar parallel is a maze with multiple pathways through it ..for example the Internet. There are almost infinite possible choices on routing IP packets from point to point, but irrespective of choice, the outcome is the same.. the message is delivered.

The point I was tring to make was that human beings are not content in accepting that life could be predestined, a driving part of what makes us human is the desire to guide our own fate, or more thruthfully to believe that we are doing so. Morpheus question "What is real?" has many meanings including this one.

There is a similar parallel in another movie "Shallow Hal" - he poses the question if somene is beautiful to you, does it matter what other people think? - In this sense we create our own reality.

On the topic of love or faith etc, I was trying to say that even for us as individuals emotions are rarely pure, they are a mixture of several together love, hope and faith, hate, envy, jealousy - can we truly separate these and say this is this or that is that? - I for one cannot, so I think that the answer might be emotions, which exact one, I cannot say

Phasis_5, I don't know if you have read the conversation between Neo and the Architect but the Architect clearly states (in my opinion) that Neo is not the anomaly. He says to Neo: your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the Matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly.
He also tells Neo: while this answer (choice) functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly.

The Architect was programming the Matrix and he was screwing things up when an intuitive program (the Oracle) discovered that nearly all the testsubjects (humans) accepted the Matrix as long as they were given a choice. This choice however is "obviously fundamentally flawed" because it created the "systemic anomaly", the anomaly inherent to the programming of the Matrix. Choice is being introduced to control humans but at the same time humans use choice to free themselves from the Matrix and the machines (as long as they are at a higher level of consciousness). That is what is meant by "contradictory".
Neo is the eventuality of the anomaly thus not the anomaly itself. Because choice is put in the Matrix, Neo can make his own choices. He is the one he makes his destiny, he is the one who chooses his path, he has the freedom to make his own choices!

to put it bluntly, no.
When Neo sees the oracle in Reloaded, she offers him candy. Neo says that she already knows whether he is going to accept it, or not. In that case, how can he make a choice?
Neo cannot make choices. I believe, he is the one because he can understand them better than anyone else.
As for the anomaly - I say the same thing. He did not choose to fall in love, its his destiny.
And ones destiny is made way before ones existence.
[edit = spelling error]

When Neo visits the oracle, she offers him a candy. He says: how can I make a choice when you allready know what I am going to choose?? Then the oracle says: you didn't come here to make a choice, you have allready made it. You are here to understand the choice you made (I know, not the exact words).
So Neo made a choice but he doesn't understand it yet. At some point he chose a path and at that moment he automaticallty chose candy but he doesn't understand it yet.

The same goes for the choice to love Trinity. I think it's when Neo saves Morpheus from the agents in M1. After the rescue, the helicopter is shot and is crashing down. Then Neo realizes he wants/has to save her. In that moment he realizes that he loves her, so he chooses to save her.

Phasis_5: "Neo cannot make choices. I believe, he is the one because he can understand them better than anyone else."
Neo cannot make choices but he understands them better then anyone else???? That doesn't make sense at all! How can you understand something if you can't create it?

so, according to you, you can only understand what you can create?

Originally posted by Phasis_5
so, according to you, you can only understand what you can create?

That's not what I am saying. For instance, people can watch the movement of the stars and planets and forecast the future. But nobody knows what the connection is between our lives and the movement of the universe.

It's like Morpheus says to Neo in M1 right before they visit the oracle. Somebody can show you the door but you have to make the decision to go through that door. It's your choice whether you want to go through the door or not.

that door has nothing to do with understanding. Its about knowing.
And, i still think that you clearly said that you can only understand what you can create....
And, if you forcast the future by the stars, and not know the connection between that and the lives of the people, then really, thats not forcasting anything.
I dont believe in horoscopes anyway....

Phasis_5, I don't know if you have read the conversation between Neo and the Architect but the Architect clearly states (in my opinion) that Neo is not the anomaly. He says to Neo: your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the Matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly.

The Architect was programming the Matrix and he was screwing things up when an intuitive program (the Oracle) discovered that nearly all the testsubjects (humans) accepted the Matrix as long as they were given a choice. This choice however is "obviously fundamentally flawed" because it created the "systemic anomaly", the anomaly inherent to the programming of the Matrix. Choice is being introduced to control humans but at the same time humans use choice to free themselves from the Matrix and the machines (as long as they are at a higher level of consciousness). That is what is meant by "contradictory".
Neo is the eventuality of the anomaly thus not the anomaly itself. Because choice is put in the Matrix, Neo can make his own choices. He is the one he makes his destiny, he is the one who chooses his path, he has the freedom to make his own choices!

Right here answers what the anamoly is. The architect states "While the answer (choice) functioned, it (choice) was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise CONTRADICTORY systemic anamoly..."

The answer that made 99% of the test subjects accept the Matrix was choice. However, there is a flaw in choice that created the contradictory systemic anamoly. Meaning, the anamoly is the opposite to the norm, the norm being those who accept the Matrix. Ergo, the anamoly should be those that wake up from the Matrix, shouldn't it?

So now the question shifts from what the anamoly is, to what is an attribute of choice that is flawed, causing these people to wake up... this anamoly.

Hope you understand what I'm getting at... It's hard putting this stuff into words lol :)

Dear ThereIsNoMatrix,

The norm in this case (the way you put it) is not those who accept the Matrix but the fact THAT they (the humans) accept the Matrix. You are saying that people are the norm which of course it isn't. The norm in this matter is all the people connected to the Matrix. This is the standard that the machines want to achieve.
You can compare this to qualifications for the Olympics. You have to throw your discus a certain amount of meters to go to the Olympics. The norm here is the distance that is being thrown, not the person that throws the discus. The norm is the goal that has to be achieved.
The anomaly is systemic meaning that it's a failure in the programming of the Matrix. This failure, anomaly, is created by choice. The anomaly is also "contradictory" to choice, like the Architect stated.
So you are saying that the anomaly is opposite to the norm. Then the norm would be choice. But this doesn't make any sense because the anomaly is not the opposite to the norm (I don't know how you made this up anyway).


Phasis_5, my nemesis,

Understanding is knowing, if you understand something you know it and vice versa.

This is what I clearly said:"How can you understand something if you can't create it?"
If I say that grass is green then I don't mean that everything that's green is grass.
I said this a few posts earlier because I don't believe that Neo can't make choices.

hmm. someone explained the anomoly very well in one thread. They said something about how 2 people both bet on if it lands on heads or tails. but when you turn 65 you try it again and it just stands straight up on the edge. That one try would be the anomoly because it is the irony in your mind. That you think that would be the last thing 2 happen.

MatrixHack1 - I saw that post too. It's a good analogy of the dictionary definition of the word. What we want to know is what this anamoly is in the Matrix, what it's referring to. Similar to how the analogy given has the anamoly referring to the one time that it lands on the edge.

DarkDerk - No, no... the anamoly isn't contradictory to choice.

The Architect - Please. As I was saying, she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99% of all test subjects accepted the program, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level. While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself. Ergo, those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster.

The mother of the Matrix stumbled upon a solution, which was choice, whereby 99% of all the test subjects accepted the program (the Matrix). The norm is those people that accept the program, or perhaps, just the idea of accepting the program. As you said, the norm is those connected to the Matrix, however, it's more than that. It's those who are connected AND accept the program. Remember, Neo was once connected to the Matrix, but he knew something was wrong... he could sense it... he couldn't accept the program.

If this is the norm, than what is contradictory to that? Those that refused the Matrix, or again, just the idea of not accepting the Matrix. I like the Olympics analogy hehe.

You are true in what you said about the anamoly being systemic... it affects the entire Matrix, "causing fluctuations in even the simplist equations."

I say the anamoly is what is opposite to the norm, because that (at least how I interpreted it) is what the architect stated...

Eh, sorry for the double post... I screwed up something :eek:

I found the definition of an anomaly at this website:
http://www.chemo-sabi.com/Glossary/anomoly.htm

It states that :

Anomaly -- A deviation from the usual, something different, peculiar, or abnormal.

Neo is the one that just does not accept anything that exists in the matrix. He believes it so blindly. Which is the reason why he is capable to fit the matrix as how he sees fit.

While the others that are unplugged from the matrix, still have a belief that the matrix might be real.

While Neo doesnt have a shread of belief in the matrix. He is different. Which is why by the definition he is an anomly.

Understanding is knowing, if you understand something you know it and vice versa.

Hmm... You can understand a person, or know him.
But this is getting away from the point.

About the Anomaly - According to the architect, its hard to believe that Neo's love for Trinity is the Anomaly, and not Neo himself, but can you really trust the Architect? The Oracle lied about the prophesy. Why not the Architect lie about the Anomaly?

Look at it this way - Neo is the 6th. The Neo we know, anyway. What made him different? Not some programming error, but his love for Trinity. Thats why he chose to go back into the Matrix.

Anomaly is something different, abnormal = Anomaly is the One.

His abilities are abnormal. No one can fly, fight with 100 agents...). The One can remake Matrix as he sees fit. That definitely is abnormal ability.

Architect said that anomaly can threaten the system. Well if someone can remake the program, he IS a threat.

Architect said that choice leads to the emergence of an anomaly.

- Everyday choices people are doing can’t harm Matrix.
- Choice to accept or refuse this life (this world) leads to the Zion. If you do not accept Matrix you belong to the 1% that refuse it. You belong to the Zion.
What choice can lead to the creation of the One?

This idea of Matrixxx helps me to understand it. “Actually life in matrix is not so bad, normal life for a lot of people and so on. You can change it but you do not know how, so why?”

The choice is yours. You can change your life if you want. You can change the world you live in if you want. You can do anything if you really want. You can become as powerful as the Architect.

It makes sense.
Matrix, as a prison is almost fully accepted with that choice (acceptance - 99%).
We really don’t know how to make that choice, we only somehow feel it. (unconscious level)
To add such a choice to the program means that program is fundamentally flawed.

Originally posted by planet
Matrix, as a prison is almost fully accepted with that choice (acceptance - 99%).


This is parallel to society today. Everyone chooses to live their lives the way society has defined it. Few of us choose to live it differently.

The sad thing is that we really can't live differently.

Makes you wonder why people think they are free.

Originally posted by zion-born
This is parallel to society today. Everyone chooses to live their lives the way society has defined it. Few of us choose to live it differently.

The sad thing is that we really can't live differently.

Makes you wonder why people think they are free.

Exactly, sometimes it drives me crazy. That labels: appropriate – inappropriate. I write about it in THERE IS NO SPOON section.

The sad thing is that you believe that we can’t live differently. There is no smile icon. So this sentence is a joke.

Originally posted by planet
Exactly, sometimes it drives me crazy. That labels: appropriate – inappropriate. I write about it in THERE IS NO SPOON section.

The sad thing is that you believe that we can’t live differently. There is no smile icon. So this sentence is a joke.

I do believe that we can live differently. But the only way that people will be able to achieve this is together as a society. But right now in our current state of evolution we cant even get along with each other. That is why wars are caused, etc.. I am just stating reality. Through hearing the truth will it open up peoples eyes. You cant sugar coat reality. Else one would be living in a dream world.