Humans as Power? Impossible!

ZionOS ccc9
Sunday October 21 , 1999

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//ID: psilody: ********** //

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Greetings Fellow Operatives

The following is an analysis I have been developing on my own for quite some time. It concerns the relationship between Machines and Humans, especially in regards to our potential use as a power supply. I am not aware of any one else having already developed a similar analysis, but it may be that someone greater knowledge has already addressed this issue. However, I have not yet found any evidence in Zion archives that this is the case. Furthermore, The Merovingians recent investigations on the subject suggests to me that it may be have become an area of increased interest.

Even as a Redpill, I was always fascinated with the workings of our Universe, especially of physics and biology. My *hobbies* in my former life led me to an interest in brain chemistry, and by extension biological science and the physical nature of reality. Of course, in retrospect, all of the information I gleaned within the simulation itself must be regarded as suspect. However, I took it upon my self to find out whether our own scientists in the Real had corroborated many things that I considered "scientific facts", And to my surprise found that largely they had. I would speculate that it was far more efficient for the Machines to copy books we had already written, than write entirely new ones. This does not leave out the possibility that things may be edited, but my Real experiences seem to confirm that the following is based on a valid scientific footing.

To start with, there are laws regarding the behavior of energy in our universe, such as the Laws of Thermodynamics. These laws state, among other things, that energy in our universe can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only be transferred from one form to another. We can create electricity, but only by transferring it from some other source, which in turn was also recycling it. Zion, for instance, draws its electricity from GeoThermal sources.

The Machines supposedly draw theirs from us, human beings. However, in order for humans to produce energy, they must in turn draw it from somewhere, and that somewhere is food. It is purported that the Machines fed us (feed bluepills) our dead. While this is certainly true (as the Machines are quite efficient), there is a problem here with the quantity of food thus produced.

Think about like this: How many bowls of that goop do we eat a day? Two, three? While calories would be more accurate, lets simplify and look simply at mass. I would say I probably eat at least a half pound of food a day. In a year, that would be 180 pounds of food! How much does the average human weigh? This may be hard to determine for the pod-bound, but the average clearly can't exceed 200 lbs. As such it would take one dead human every year to feed each live human. This leads to population dynamics that are impossibly unstable. Think about this:

If the Matrix started with 1000 adults, 500 would have to die the first year to feed the remainder, 250 the second year, etc. In ten years noone would be left.Even if we count births, and even if there were 500 a year, they are babies lacking sufficent mass to contribute significantly. And by the time they are ten, all the adults would be dead!

So, In order to have a stable population within the Matrix the machines MUST be feeding us something other than our own dead. In fact, it seems probable that MOST of the food comes from another source.If that is the case, it begs the question:

If the Machines have the energy to produce that much food, WHY DO THEY NEED US??

The ramifications of this analysis, if true, are obviously considerable and diverse. At this point we could only speculate, and wildly at that. Yet perhaps it is time to investigate this possibilty. Certainly, the Merovingian believes thi is the case. As it could change the entire relationship between the various Factions, I feel it must be explored.

I hope that this report will serve to catalyze research and action in this area.

Thank you for your time and consideration

End Report

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Interesting thoughts psilody,

Perhaps looking at Redpill's own food productions methods may give some insight to how the machines feed their population.

What are the current production methods of our food? Did we learn this method from the machines in some manner?

Certainly if we did that may explain the main source of food for the bluepills, suplimented with the "recylced" remains of dead bulepills.

SKyBruin- with Zions placement deep underground, we use Geothremal energy for elcetricity etc. We convert this too light in order gorw plants and food.

However, Zion HAS to grow food. It is explicitly a city of humans and humans require food. The Machines do not need food, they need electricity.

which leads to

Croesus- the issue here is conservation of energy from process to process. We are told the Machines use fusion, and I assume they may also use geothermal, wind, tidal, any number of other energy sources.

But to fuel humans, this energy must be converted from form to form. electricity must make light, light must make plant matter, humans metabolize.

even if the machines have a perfect conservation system (that is no energy is lost converting electric to light to food to human) they cannot get more energy OUT of the System than is put IN.

So, if they have the energy to put in to us, Why not just use that energy to power themselves? Why waste time with a whole elaborate system for keeping humans alive? The only excess energy they could harvest would be a result of the dead, and this is necessarily a nominal quantity, given the population dynamic. Most likely it would barely cover the expenditure in building and maintaining the system.

Clearly, the Matrix exists. But I can see no way that its PURPOSE can be the production of electricity.

((OK now ooc, while ive been a ware of this discrepency for a while, Ive alway just figured *nod, wink, sci-fi and all that* but lately the storyline has explicitly moved towards exploring the issue of humans as energy. as such i felt it was time to try and get some discussion on this.

Finally LordUnqubus- LMAO! I love it! with how much metheane i produce, i could power the whole thing myself. But seriously that methane is still an energetic byproduct of the process, and its output cannot exceed its input.))

So, if they have the energy to put in to us, Why not just use that energy to power themselves? Why waste time with a whole elaborate system for keeping humans alive?

The fact that they savagely murder all those not under their direct control proves that they have no such concept as peace. (Which is incidentally why Neo was and continues to be a complete enigma to them.)  It also shows your statement to be inept, as the genocidal eradication of all non-grown humanity prevents any evolution from taking place.  Have the Machines so twisted you that you actually state 1 = 0 and expect us to swallow it?

Just as a matter of record, the films never say that the machines fed humans nothing but the liquefied dead.  

More importantly, however, bear in mind that 'food' is merely a conduit through which various nutrients enter the body.  As a general rule, the digestive system is designed to break food down into its various chemical and molecular components, from which the nutrients necessary to sustain bodily existence are then extracted.  The human perspective of what is and isn't necessary food-wise is not applicable in this case, since the nutrients are provided via the fabricated amniotic fluid (which is akin to the method in which a womb functions).  Furthermore, the fluid is quite clearly depicted as being comprised largely of water, which makes logical sense anyway, since the human body requires water far more than it requires 'food'.  Water, of course, is freely available all over the globe.

Additionally, it could be reasoned that the machines have long since worked out an equation regarding the number of humans grown for the sole purpose of providing fusion based energy via the power plants vs the number of humans grown for the sole purpose of feeding those plugged into said power plants.

Just as a matter of record, the films never say that the machines fed humans nothing but the liquefied dead.  

More importantly, however, bear in mind that 'food' is merely a conduit through which various nutrients enter the body.  As a general rule, the digestive system is designed to break food down into its various chemical and molecular components, from which the nutrients necessary to sustain bodily existence are then extracted.  The human perspective of what is and isn't necessary food-wise is not applicable in this case, since the nutrients are provided via the fabricated amniotic fluid (which is akin to the method in which a womb functions).  Furthermore, the fluid is quite clearly depicted as being comprised largely of water, which makes logical sense anyway, since the human body requires water far more than it requires 'food'.  Water, of course, is freely available all over the globe.

Additionally, it could be reasoned that the machines have long since worked out an equation regarding the number of humans grown for the sole purpose of providing fusion based energy via the power plants vs the number of humans grown for the sole purpose of feeding those plugged into said power plants.

stewartdaniels1986 wrote:

Just as a matter of record, the films never say that the machines fed humans nothing but the liquefied dead.  

More importantly, however, bear in mind that 'food' is merely a conduit through which various nutrients enter the body.  As a general rule, the digestive system is designed to break food down into its various chemical and molecular components, from which the nutrients necessary to sustain bodily existence are then extracted.  The human perspective of what is and isn't necessary food-wise is not applicable in this case, since the nutrients are provided via the fabricated amniotic fluid (which is akin to the method in which a womb functions).  Furthermore, the fluid is quite clearly depicted as being comprised largely of water, which makes logical sense anyway, since the human body requires water far more than it requires 'food'.  Water, of course, is freely available all over the globe.

Additionally, it could be reasoned that the machines have long since worked out an equation regarding the number of humans grown for the sole purpose of providing fusion based energy via the power plants vs the number of humans grown for the sole purpose of feeding those plugged into said power plants.

Quite right.  Furthermore, if you assume that the equation starts with a perfectly healthy human, fed perfect nutrients, then the healthiest thing for a human is a human; after all, who's going to have everything our bodies need to run? One of us.

So I'm gald to see some discussion developing.

Croesus- "The Machines didn't want to wipe out the entire human race" This is exactly where I was intending this to go. My whole point is that the Machines DON't need us for energy, so there has to be some other motive for their keeping us alive. Yours is one theory, I have others, but how to prove them? Also, the laws, are admittedly, those discovered previously by humans, but they are not simply IDEAS. They are largely mathematical equations which can be readily tested and observed in the Real World. .In any case, I want to answer a few more questions concerning energy.

PS1ON- Ok where to begin. Fungus have to feed on organic material. Where is the organic material coming from? It also still rewuires energy to cultivate and harvest fungus, and also to generate the organic matter the fungus consumes. Certainly organic matter and fungus can be cultivated using Geothermal energy. But then, you can generate electrcity from geothermal energy, so why bother to waste it cultivating organic matter, fungus, etc. to feed to humans, just to get the same energy back? The same applies to synthesizing any nutrients aminos etc. Energy has to be expended to either aquire the raw matrials, or manufacture them. Again, Im not arguing that it cant be done, just that you cant Get OUT more energy than went IN. Doesn't matter how good your Machines are.

Mobyias- again, reread it, there cannot possibly be enough DEAD humans to feed the LIVING. You would generate a population crash with extreme rapidity

stewartdaniels- whether its aniotic fluid or whatever, energy has to be put into its creation. And water doesn't generate energy. Yes we require a lot of it, but it isn't fuel. We need food to produce chemical reactions to create energy.

Chemuel- thye issue isn't whether humans are good food. The issue is that there cannot be enuf Dead bodies to provide a sufficient quantity of food to keep alive a functional population.

And finally, to all the bickering about the politics right now, if the Machines DON't need us for energy, then are we really slaves? what if, as Croesus has suggested, they are keeping us alive out of Altruism? Im personally not inclined to this explanation, as the Machines would have had no reason for the war against Zion. Letting us go would have no substantial ramifications. The real question that it raised for me is:

 How do we know that there aren't humans behind the Machines? How do we know that the War between Humans and Machines ever happened? How do we know that we didn't create the Matrix ourselves as a refuge after F'in up our environment?

Let's continue this shall we?

"Personally I feel that the Machines are waiting for the day when Humankind has evolved past its savage instincts and are ready to live in peace with the Machines, but until then they have to be kept and cared for somewhere."

The fact that they savagely murder all those not under their direct control proves that they have no such concept as peace. (Which is incidentally why Neo was and continues to be a complete enigma to them.)  It also shows your statement to be inept, as the genocidal eradication of all non-grown humanity prevents any evolution from taking place.  Have the Machines so twisted you that you actually state 1 = 0 and expect us to swallow it?

Chemuel- thye issue isn't whether humans are good food. The issue is that there cannot be enuf Dead bodies to provide a sufficient quantity of food to keep alive a functional population.

psilody wrote:

stewartdaniels- whether its aniotic fluid or whatever, energy has to be put into its creation. And water doesn't generate energy. Yes we require a lot of it, but it isn't fuel. We need food to produce chemical reactions to create energy.

You've contradicted yourself here regarding the laws of thermodynamics as they relate to energy (you were right the first time, wrong here).   

In any case, quote: 

Morpheus:  "...combined with a form of fusion, the machines had found all the energy they would ever need."

I suggest you google the word "fusion" and recall the fact that water is comprised of two parts hydrogen.  Don't get so lost inside your theory's logic that you can't see the obvious.  And yes, this issue has been discussed ad nauseum long before MxO.

Ok a little more.

Chemuel- As per my original post, birth rate cannot compensate for an exceptionally high death rate due to the maturation rate of human beings. You cannot reasonably harvest before age fifteen, and by then evryone is dead already to... anyway im not going to repeat that all again. It should be enough to say that there are absolutelty NO organisms on this planet that survive entirly on canibalism for a reason.

As to the second part, Im really confused quite frankly, no idea what yer alluding to. I think from yer previous posts that you are referring to attitudes about war. I don't think i said anything suggesting i was on one side or another particularly. To clarify, i am a strong proponent of peace, and would love to see the truce restored.

stewartdaniels- "You've contradicted yourself here regarding the laws of thermodynamics as they relate to energy (you were right the first time, wrong here).  "

Please clarify

Also, I realize that Morpheus claimed it was combined with a form of Fusion. Are you suggesting that Fusion takes place in our own bodies? er.. im just not sure what you are going for there. Do the Machines use Fusion, and then recycle the water for maintianing the humans? Maybe but that has nothing to do with humans as energy. I've generally assumed that this statement implied the machines used the human energy to catalyze the Fusion process. My whole point is that this would be a ridiculously inneficient way to start the process, given other probable sources of energy. And it doesn't change the fact that to get the catalyzing energy Out of the humans, you have to put food energy Into the humans.

Nor does it change the fact that the Machines are if nothing else EFFICIENT, and there is nothing about this method of producing energy that is efficient. Not without an easily harvested, nearly unlimited supply of food. Such food must take in energy from the sun or Geothermal heat, which can just as well be directly converted into electricity, as generate an elaborate system that sends it through human beings first.

((ok so out of character, I have always been ok with this little dilemma, because heck, its science fiction. So they bent the science a little. But this whole storyline about the Merovingain exploring the fields, and calculating how many humans it takes to run a light bulb. Im sorry but if the developers are gonna drive the storyline right into the midst of this quandary, than Im gonna point it out. I just honestly want to see where they are going to take this. And i hope noone takes this to personally. Its just frustrating sometimes to make a point, and then its like you didn't even explain yourself. Seriously, i don't want to write a book on population dynamics,human food consumption, cellular process, quantum and relativity theory, etc. This isn't half-baked and the fact that its been discussed "ad-nauseum" doesn't mean its been answered, at least not in Storyline. I was really hoping to generate mor discussion along the lines of Croesus remarks (Ty for some good RP response there), but unfortunately that was twisted into a shouting match. So be it. Hopefully by the time it genrates 20 or 30 posts itll be noticed by Dev's. What they do with it is their business. Peace eveyone!))

Sorry must a been writing still during that final post.

PS1ON- I agree fungus could be a food source. But Fungus survives on organic matter such as plants, bacteria, carcasses, bread, etc. In order to grow fungus (which ive done) you must have a medium. Those mediums in turn require energy. We already know that the sun is not an option. Certainly, they could use something like geothermal heat to produce organims like algae and bacteria, to culture the fungus with. However, if they have the geothermal enrgy to cultivate with, why not just directly convert it into electricity, or use it to catalyze Fusion reactions. Why bother with the Matrix?

((Chemuel- Ok sure, no problem with that. They may indeed.

If they have such amazing technology and energy producing capacities, Why do they need US?

And on the cloning aging thing, it would seem that we can be extracted at many ages, see Kid and the orphan. If we are accelerated to adulthood, then you start introducing issues in other areas of the plotline. You also still need energy and material to accelerate an organism to maturity, and you cannot get more energy out of the body than you put into it.))

 stewartdaniels- "You've contradicted yourself here regarding the laws of thermodynamics as they relate to energy (you were right the first time, wrong here).  "

Please clarify

As you wish:

psilody wrote:

To start with, there are laws regarding the behavior of energy in our universe, such as the Laws of Thermodynamics. These laws state, among other things, that energy in our universe can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only be transferred from one form to another.

psilody wrote:

We need food to produce chemical reactions to create energy.

Clear enough?

psilody wrote:

Also, I realize that Morpheus claimed it was combined with a form of Fusion. Are you suggesting that Fusion takes place in our own bodies? er.. im just not sure what you are going for there. Do the Machines use Fusion, and then recycle the water for maintianing the humans? Maybe but that has nothing to do with humans as energy. I've generally assumed that this statement implied the machines used the human energy to catalyze the Fusion process. My whole point is that this would be a ridiculously inneficient way to start the process, given other probable sources of energy. And it doesn't change the fact that to get the catalyzing energy Out of the humans, you have to put food energy Into the humans.

Nor does it change the fact that the Machines are if nothing else EFFICIENT, and there is nothing about this method of producing energy that is efficient. Not without an easily harvested, nearly unlimited supply of food. Such food must take in energy from the sun or Geothermal heat, which can just as well be directly converted into electricity, as generate an elaborate system that sends it through human beings first.

Human beings aren't the only energy producing entities on this planet, and the very laws to which you've referred prove that all of the energy available in the universe is in fact still available.  The bodies in the pods supply bioelectricity, nothing more.  Energy can come from a myriad of sources irrespective of human beings.  Smash two atoms together for a better understanding.

Human beings aren't the only energy producing entities on this planet, and the very laws to which you've referred prove that all of the energy available in the universe is in fact still available.  The bodies in the pods supply bioelectricity, nothing more.  Energy can come from a myriad of sources irrespective of human beings.  Smash two atoms together for a better understanding.

psilody wrote:

To start with, there are laws regarding the behavior of energy in our universe, such as the Laws of Thermodynamics. These laws state, among other things, that energy in our universe can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only be transferred from one form to another.

psilody wrote:

We need food to produce chemical reactions to create energy.

Clear enough?

((The issue of fusion is quite simply that anything that has mass has energy and vica versa - even a glass of water has the potential to liberate vast amounts of energy - the trick is to induce a stable form of Fusion (rather than the more typical explosion) from which power may be drawn  safely over a period of time. The physical evidence at hand denies this as a likely process to be taking place with regard to the human body here...fusion is more likely limited to the waste products only promoting electrochemical processes as the energy source of the the actual living body.

The rational approach to any energy situation is to examine what resources are available and what is the most efficient convertor of that resource into a form of energy that can be used. The human body is a convertor of energy, if it can be maintained by substances otherwise useless to the machines (incorporated with a degree of recycling) it 'may' be a more efficient way to produce power than something they can construct.....

While sustaining the populace on their own dead is pretty unlikely it could be supported by other sources - we do not know all life on earth to be dead certainly mosses, fungi and more can grow with little to no light, the ocean floor devoid of 99% of light can again still support certain forms of life - difficult to fish of course....at least for humans - the only issue is making the stuff edible - but again if you can vent the human digestive system quick enough you can actually consume even semi toxic susbtances to nourishing effect.

Close analysis of this area draws attention to many other 'anomalies' in the Matrix - if we apply and restrict ourselfs to 20th century science we fall foul of many other problems, why leave the humans with arms and legs, from an efficiency pov simply no need to support anything beyond the vital organs, the concept of the Matrix as a whole begins to look weak and lose conviction this is why it is dangerous to the point of stupidity to shine bright lights on the strings and pulleys of this world - we have accepted these foundations and should move forward with sufficient pace to sustain our 'suspension of disbelief' it doesnt matter how clever the subsequent reevaluation leaves us the damage is far reaching and throws credibility issues into every facet of the world - if you remove credibility and consistency from a make beleive world it can only collapse!))

((Thanks to several of you for defending a few points for me. appreciate that.

Tytanya- I would still argue that the extraction of the remaining Organic matter sources on the planet would be more energy consuming than simply generating energy from other sources that should still be available.

As you say, there are all kinds of story/plot issues that come creeping up here. Its quite honestly astonishing to me that the Dev's have even let the storyline stray into this arena. I mean, let sleeping dogs lie, right? It says to me that a) maybe they dont know what a can of worms this is or b) there is some new plot development lurking beneath here. Maybe the Merv will discover that the Machines Aren't/can't be using us as their primary energy source.

If so, it could substantially change the way we view the human/machine relationship. Frankly, I expect the Dev's to sweep this right back under the carpet. as you say

" it is dangerous to the point of stupidity to shine bright lights on the strings and pulleys of this world "

I wanted this discussion to illustrate just how close the Stroyline is coming to doing this.

Thanks again for the input from everyone))

psilody, I agree that the devs are really making a mistake by drawing attention to this whole issue.  It's pretty clear that the original intent behind the line "combined with a form of fusion"
 is "It's too high-tech for anyone to understand.  Pay no attention to the fusion behind the curtain."  Maybe we should all just go back to thinking like we did when the first film came out and going "Okay, they're super-advanced, and they figured out a way to make it work.  w00t for the machines, I guess."

QFT.

There's no sense wasting time trying to come up with logic behind the inner workings of a science-fiction story.  Although it's admirable and definitely great conversation but it's ultimately nothing we need to know.

((The only way I can see it not being a mistake, is if they take the Matrix a whole new direction. You could run the storyline into alternate motives, scenarios, purposes for the MAtrix etc. That Could be quite interseting. Its not som much that the Matrix is impossible, just that its technically Scientifically impossible for it to function as an elctricity/energy generator.

One of the dangers with a really extended, deep sci-fi plot is that its NOT fantasy. You can't just fall back on magic or something to explain away discrepencies. You either have to avoid the discrepencies or make use of them. Id personally like to see the alternatives explored, I think there could be some really interesting RPing come out of a major twist in the Matrix plot! Certainly more intersting than "Im right! You're Worng! Lets fight!"" width="15" height="15" />)

((The only way I can see it not being a mistake, is if they take the Matrix a whole new direction. You could run the storyline into alternate motives, scenarios, purposes for the MAtrix etc. That Could be quite interseting. Its not som much that the Matrix is impossible, just that its technically Scientifically impossible for it to function as an elctricity/energy generator.

One of the dangers with a really extended, deep sci-fi plot is that its NOT fantasy. You can't just fall back on magic or something to explain away discrepencies. You either have to avoid the discrepencies or make use of them. Id personally like to see the alternatives explored, I think there could be some really interesting RPing come out of a major twist in the Matrix plot! Certainly more intersting than "Im right! You're Worng! Lets fight!"" />)

((Chemuel- Ok sure, no problem with that. They may indeed.

If they have such amazing technology and energy producing capacities, Why do they need US?

And on the cloning aging thing, it would seem that we can be extracted at many ages, see Kid and the orphan. If we are accelerated to adulthood, then you start introducing issues in other areas of the plotline. You also still need energy and material to accelerate an organism to maturity, and you cannot get more energy out of the body than you put into it.))

Resorting to quatum and string theory is really demonstrating the level of damage already done - credibility and conviction in this world requires something less esoteric and frankly more imaginitive. It also raises genuine issues of misrepresentation, this is the Matrix Online, not 'A Matrix online' or some parallel world which randomly includes certain characters....

The story is questioning aspects, foundations in fact, which cannot be rationally supported given todays understanding but unfortunately the mechanisms used to raise these questions have been to call upon that limited understanding also going on to belittle and deny the validity of the other tools we been forced to rely on in the past with a knock on effect that confounds or contradicts other supporting aspects of the world - sadly without any other tools at our disposal we are left floundering and helpless.

The cumulative effect is to render the player completely unable to discern any facts of any kind, therefore everything degenerates into subjective argument/discussion with no possibility of objective resolution (well except an ooc edict from a dev perhaps) - this is in fact evidenced in the events threads, where there have been some great discussions but ones that only highlight the complete impossibility of making progress - the story has left itself nothing to build upon and no where it can go that you can believe). Answers given IC carry absolutely no weight, information gleaned from source inside the matrix are unsupportable - no matter how well thought out.

It may be, and I suspect it is, the case that greater reveleations will attempt to resolve the outstanding issues, but the damage has been done and the consequent cracks have been revealed and will remain, once you have denied the validity of the only options open to you to learn, subsequent discoveries become worthless

From an RP pov at least the story has literally shot itself in the foot..... maybe even the head!   

Well that's the problem though.  People are too fascinated with how the magician does the trick rather than simply appreciating the trick for what it is:  Entertainment

Well that's the problem though.  People are too fascinated with how the magician does the trick rather than simply appreciating the trick for what it is:  Entertainment

Garu wrote:

Well that's the problem though.  People are too fascinated with how the magician does the trick rather than simply appreciating the trick for what it is:  Entertainment

Thats just Human nature, to try to understand something, to learn and grow.

And therein lies the problem.  It's sci-fi.  Just enjoy it.

Well that's the problem though.  People are too fascinated with how the magician does the trick rather than simply appreciating the trick for what it is:  Entertainment

Unsure whether you have followed the Merov Criticals where these points are raised specifically but my point of concern is that the story itself is demanding these questions to be asked, in doing so the 'believebility' of the world is shaken but worse the mechanisms used to raise the question have a cascade effect in undermining many many other areas of the matrix - it has literally shone its light and forced us to look on the strings and pulleys of this trick.

There was a lot of 'nearly science' that made the Matrix so persuasive, couple that with a frenetic pace and a swamp of interesting characters and we had enough to occupy ourselves so we could overlook the odd discrepency. However take us backwards, remove or contradict our learning to date and revisit these ideas, you call into question the facts we had relied and it forces us to see things we really didnt want to, the trick ceases to exist, we cease to be involved and the potential entertainment is significantly less than it could be.

The analogy you use is literally the problem I am trying to avert, we can see how its done - its only a game - cannot be the only explanation, the imagination needs more, the story has a responsibility to convince us sufficiently to 'suspend that disbelief' atm it is actively doing the exact opposite. 

Unsure whether you have followed the Merov Criticals where these points are raised specifically but my point of concern is that the story itself is demanding these questions to be asked, in doing so the 'believebility' of the world is shaken but worse the mechanisms used to raise the question have a cascade effect in undermining many many other areas of the matrix - it has literally shone its light and forced us to look on the strings and pulleys of this trick.

There was a lot of 'nearly science' that made the Matrix so persuasive, couple that with a frenetic pace and a swamp of interesting characters and we had enough to occupy ourselves so we could overlook the odd discrepency. However take us backwards, remove or contradict our learning to date and revisit these ideas, you call into question the facts we had relied and it forces us to see things we really didnt want to, the trick ceases to exist, we cease to be involved and the potential entertainment is significantly less than it could be.

The analogy you use is literally the problem I am trying to avert, we can see how its done - its only a game - cannot be the only explanation, the imagination needs more, the story has a responsibility to convince us sufficiently to 'suspend that disbelief' atm it is actively doing the exact opposite. 

I agree completely.  As intriguing as it is to be exposed to the nature of how the Matrix works, after a certain point too much is revealed.  I can only hope that the devs are not trying to make us believe in the functionality of the Matrix when there are so many other things that could be focused on.

We already believe the Matrix works, why does it seem like they are trying to show us the smoke and mirrors??

I've always had my own theory in so far as the "People are power" is concerned.

I always thought that it was BS, to be blunt [and we all know I always am].

Personally, I don't think that the pod towers provide power to the Matrix, not on the level needed to actually power it.

What I DO think, is that the towers are set up in one giant world spanning network, that connects all of the minds of humanity.

I also think that the Mechs have the pods set up to try and reuse the little bit of power that the human body produces in the pod.

And the thing that I don't think anyone else has discussed before?

I think that the reason that this is all set up, is not for the "power", but for the computing power.

I think that the mechs have set up the pods, to use the large portion of the human mind that we don't use.

While we're in the pod, we're stable. We use the part of the brain we always use, for the most part we're even content.

And they use the rest of computing.

I don't think the pod towers are the worlds largest power plant, but the worlds largest super computer.

And think about it...if they took out the pod towers? It would be an inconveince but it wouldn't threaten their entire race/way of life.

Which is why, "There are levels of survival they are willing to accept".

But..thats just one mans opinion.

That's not a bad idea, and I've heard something like that elsewhere. If that's the case, I'd love to know what they're computing. But then, I also want to know what the Machine Civilisation actually does.