The temet nosce sign in The Matrix is Latin for know thyself, know what you really are. Let’s discuss what that means both in The Matrix and in the context of Hack the Verse.
The temet nosce sign is an old Gnostic saying; it’s Latin for “Know Thyself” while Γνῶθι σαυτόν is the Greek equivalent. Knowing thyself is, by design, a very interesting and attractive concept when people first encounter it.
“What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.”
Morpheus, The Matrix
A recent post, Know Thyself, generated a ton of search hits, so we thought it would be nice to flesh out the idea for everyone interested.
The Matrix
The Matrix is a fantastic 1999 movie that takes place in a dystopian future where artificially intelligent machines have long since taken over the planet. Not only have the machines taken over, but they used humans as their primary power source to survive the ages. Computers need power, but global populations of very intelligent machines need lots of power.
By far, the most interesting feature of the plot was “The Matrix,” which was the link connecting all the humans together in their virtual shared reality. Humans are much higher maintenance prisoners than simple potato batteries; they need to be tricked into happily residing in an invisible prison.
The temet nosce sign
The Matrix movie is a brilliant enough piece of fiction, but with one extra little scene, an entire belief system was given a makeover. A potential update to an ageless religion. The temet nosce sign above the oracle’s doorway made the connection. The oracle pointed to the temet nosce sign and said, “It’s Latin. Means, know thyself.”
“Ye are gods.”
Jesus, John 10:34 quoting Psalm 82:6
Gnosticism is an ancient belief system positing that people are gods trapped by ignorance on Earth in human form. Demons somehow banished us here having stripped away our memories of our true selves. We only have to wake up and remember our true selves. Know Thyself!
Knock, knock, Neo.
The Matrix is the update to Gnosticism. Demons casting down the gods was interesting stuff 2,000 years ago, but today, artificial intelligence tricking people into populating realistic virtual realities is much more palatable. All the downstream implications are the same.
Judging by the number of search results on the topic, it seems this scene has stirred a lot of people’s imaginations. This website, Hack the Verse, is mostly dedicated to what the channels teach, but The Matrix is particularly exciting for us because it’s not too far off!
The temet nosce sign says know thyself
As the main character in the movie, Neo was to wake up to the fact that he was, essentially, a god with god-like powers in the virtual reality called The Matrix.
This took a little while to play out in the movie. All well-written hero character arcs need to face and initially lose to adversity. Only when the character internalizes the right lessons and grows stronger can they proceed to save the day. In Neo’s case, the lesson was to know thyself.
“You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind.”
Obviously, he didn’t disappoint. As his beliefs shifted, the events of his world followed his updated beliefs. This snowballed through the usual lifecycle of belief, from concept through attitude, faith, belief, and eventually knowing.
Knock, knock, Neo
We’re at a truly interesting point in our development as a species. For practically everything that plagues us individually, we only have to think long enough and creatively enough to simply ask the question. Any search engine fills in the result.
Wake up and know thyself
First, we have to dream the result is even possible. Once we have enough faith that something is possible, we can simply search for it. Once you can imagine it’s possible to save money, the answer is a quick search away. Only after you dream of a life without chronic illness, the answers (along with tons of incorrect advice) are as close as a button press.
Next, we have to judge the quality of the results. Recognize that over half the results are advertisements. Even honest-appearing peer-reviewed studies suffer from this. The scientific method is a powerful tool for discovering facts, but it’s quite fragile when it comes to discovering truth.
Every subject is really two subjects. Being clear about your goal, the emotional response to any advice will indicate whether it’s in alignment or not in alignment with what you really want. Thankfully, you’ll find the solution to many of your problems is quite often free, despite the advertisers telling you otherwise. Everything we actually need is God-given and completely free, though, some aspects of that are much harder to see in our modern world.
Finally, you have to live it by putting these things into practice. Listen to your inner being. Learn and follow the actual rules. As you do, you’ll notice a definite shift in how you interact with your world. You’ll have your own snowball effect, and then things will get really exciting.
Stay awake with your own temet nosce sign
We can’t think of a cooler tattoo than a temet nosce sign, but we’ll settle for a tee shirt. Podcast subscriptions work nicely as periodic reminders. Following Hack the Verse is also a nice regular reminder; it certainly is for us (by design). Anything that works for you is the right answer.
The earlier in the day you can remember to know thyself, the more impactful it’ll be for the rest of your day.
