The Dan Davis Example

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Could a damaged individual have a fully functioning body in the Matrix?

Are damaged individuals inserted by the Machines or disposed of?

The coroner's already hinted that the machines have several methods of population control in place so it doesn't take much to think that the handicap are for the most part disposed of. Also you have to take efficiency into account. The bodies of those plugged into the Matrix are not in prime condition but are atrophied and worn out. Thus keeping an already handicapped body connected could result in even greater inefficient then already present in the system by using humans. However the illusion must be kept and so examples of all forms of possible human condition must be present within the system. It could be that the handicap are only handicap because of the systems needs but there body within the real is the same as any other.

Could a damaged individual have a fully functioning body in the Matrix?

Yes. "The mind makes it real" "Do you believe my muscles have anything to do with my strength or speed in this place?" both clear explanations that within the Matrix the mind is everything the body nothing and that your only limits are the ones your mind puts up. Thus if you mind is damaged and trained to think that you are handicapped you will be handicapped. However if you are able to look past this and realize that just because within the real you are damaged this does not transfer over to a world that only runs off what the mind tells it can happen.

Could a damaged bluepill be 'healed' via awakening?

I believe so yes. After all the only damage was in your head and the body in the real was perfectly fine. Physical elements could be fixed as the only problem that is in the real is the lack of use. However mental disorders (down syndrome for example) may not work as they are conditions brought on my the mind. Also in the case of disease the awakening in some cases may not be enough as there are cases of people being affected by diseases that they never had only because they had convinced themselves they had them. Then again the awakening procedure is a bit of an emotional and mental rollercoster so it may be enough for them to realise that it was all BS from the first cough.

Could a redpill become disabled in the real as a result of critical injury in the Matrix?

I'm gonna say no. We see Trinity getting shot and cut up but nothing physical is done to her body. Her mind only shuts down because it believes it has been shot yet the body in the real is perfectly fine. However in EtM we see Ghost holding his side after being flung through a car windshield so some damage is present after jacking out. But that's it. Its a one time pain and is soon forgotten once it comes back to them that "it wasn't real" so critical injury by any physical means would be impossible. On a mental level however it is very possible and we hear about Morpheus going through some after his interrogation by Smith.

In the end it all comes down to the individual and how well they are adapted to the concept of "Mind over Body".

Some good points so far, here's another question:
Do you think, given the greater picture, that it is ethical for Machines to enforce a disability on an otherwise healthy human?

GypsyJuggler wrote:

Some good points so far, here's another question:
Do you think, given the greater picture, that it is ethical for Machines to enforce a disability on an otherwise healthy human?

No, but its not just limited to disability. The entire Matrix is a lie and nothing in it is real. All emotions, feelings, experiences are created by a program and not by the individual. As Trinity put it "The Matrix can not tell you who you are." The people within may believe that they are in control and are happy but that's only because the program tells them they are, not because of anything they decided for themselves. So while it may be overall a better life for them ethically it still takes away choice from the individual.

Emotions and feelings are not created by the matrix.  All the matrix does is feed the mind an artificial environment, humans generate their own misconceptions about it and react accordingly.  It could be argued that over time, human reactions in such a setting would become Pavlovian, but the reaction is still human, and this is no different than a real world Pavlovian reaction (say, arousal upon seeing a pretty woman, laughing or crying because of a movie).

Also, a machine considering the ethics of putting crippled RSI's in the matrix is like an Old South landowner considering the ethics of putting crippled cotton pickers in the field.

*removed post* 

Never mind was a diffrence of opinion thats was off topic.

Emotions and feelings are by products of experences/events which are products of the world/enviorment. You don't just feel sad. Its a responce thats triggerd by an event and events just don't randomly happen but are the results of past events set into motion by the world/enviorments. Cause and effect. So if the world isn't real then neither are the events that triggerd your sadnesss thus your sadness wasn't real.

You said it yourself, it's a response.  Ergo, it came from the person, not the program.  The fact that these things occur in a simulated environment and are based on simulated experiences is irrelevant.  Same goes for anything generated, experienced, or stored in the brain.  This is all confirmed in the first film regarding how we define 'real'.

quote: 

Morpheus:  ".. 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."

The Trinity line you quoted contradicts your argument as well, don't know why you used it.

edited to add:  I see you removed it, I'll bring it back on topic

I don't see how ethics are even an issue, given what we know about the big picture, i.e., humans are all slaves.  The fact that humans ended up that way because they behaved unethically toward machines doesn't 'cancel it out', for lack of a better term.  As the adage goes, two wrongs don't make a right.

What do you think of the possibility of Stockholm Syndrome bluepills?

^A good example of how not everything associated with the franchise is canon.

Though those could always be explained away with "your mind makes it real", but meh, specious at best.

This is why I brought it up, because this sort of thing hasn't been explained much in official canon sources