Humans are weak.

In The Matrix, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) explains to Neo that the world is crappy because humans wanted it that way. The AI overlords initially created a different, kinder version of the Matrix. (The all-subsuming virtual reality that keeps humans engaged while they serve as batteries for their AI overlords.) (Uh, spoilers?)

That first edition, according to Smith, was a perfect world:

But humans didn’t believe it.

We couldn’t live in peace and harmony because, Smith posits, we’re inherently destructive. We desire conflict and mess and anger. Humanity couldn’t be kept docile with utopia; we needed conflict to stay engaged.

This monologue is a great jumping-off point for a newsletter about negative emotional engagement. Possibly even how anger fuels misinformation! Maybe a rant about the ragebait attention economy!

THIS IS NOT THAT NEWSLETTER.

Instead, I’d like to point you to this:

Elrond (Hugo Weaving) is sharing, succinctly, a familiar thought: “Men are weak.”

Elrond goes on to say he’s been around for thousands and thousands of years, and has seen the decline of ‘the race of man’. He’s witnessed them make poor choices. He’s watched them succumb to greed and temptation, rather than exterminate evil once and for all.

Let’s connect the obvious dots: Middle-earth is clearly that first, failed iteration of the Matrix. It is a beautiful, eternal land, filled with goodness and light. Humans have the opportunity to be, and remain, glorious; capable of art and culture and magic. Yet after thousands and thousands of years (or processing cycles), the rot creeps in. The new generations are no longer complacent.

Humanity’s ‘viral’ instincts kick in: we swarm and degenerate from ancient Numenor to the Scouring of the Shire. (For less nerdy folks: we start with a bucolic forested paradise… and then proceed to invent the nastiest sort of industrialisation.) Middle-earth is meant to be eternal and picturesque, but humans really screwed it up.

Elrond is Agent Smith. He is present in Middle-earth, in his capacity as project manager. He’s there to ensure humanity stays docile, and delivers minor course corrections where and how he can. There are limits on his ability to get direct involved (e.g. he can’t hide the One Ring or carry it to Mordor himself), but he can make his little nudges in favour of Good (that is, ‘continuing the status quo’).

The Lord of the Rings is Elrond/Smith’s last-ditch attempt to patch the program and keep humans docile in a utopian environment. However, humanity has gone too far down the rabbit hole. Gondor has crumbled, half of mankind is fighting for Sauron, and incredibly potent viral agents (Worm-tongue, etc) are wreaking havoc by causing dissent.

[Saruman is, in essence, a type of proto-Neo, able to warp the code ‘with magic’ and upset the system. Gandalf, meanwhile, is unintentionally working as an agent of the status quo, trying to keep the system secure. Perhaps he knows what exists outside of the Middle-earth Matrix, and is deliberately trying to keep humanity in the utopian program because he knows the alternative is worse?]

Even after the Ring goes into the mountain, it becomes clear that Middle-earth, Matrix 1.0, is beyond repair. The events of Scouring show that, after Sauron’s defeat, even relatively remote and ‘secure’ networks like the Shire are still being corrupted by human vice. Despite Agent Smith/Elrond’s best efforts, this project is a failure.

The few remaining humans that prefer utopia are shoved into a backup server (the ‘Gray Havens’) - perhaps as a reward for their attempt to salvage the status quo. The rest of humanity is moved to an entirely new Matrix 2.0: the contemporary, messy, dirty Matrix of The Matrix series.

Anyway, there you go. Middle-earth is the Matrix.

what I’m reading (online)

While I’m at it, I’m a Paul WS Anderson and Milla Jovovich truther. I adore them both. I really like this article because it explains why I like them so much: they’re very, very good at what they do, and what they do is an unheralded, underappreciated form of pulp entertainment. Is Death Race GREAT ART? God, no. But have you see the pile of steaming poo that is Death Race 2? There is a major difference between making good pulp action and bad pulp action.

Nice New Yorker piece on the changing local media scene in London (paywall, sorry). It highlights a few of the new (digital) outlets that are filling the ‘void’ left by the closure of the Evening Standard. I’m genuinely excited about what’s going on. London is, ironically, underserved for local news, and I’m keen to see how things will shake out going forwards.

“It had thousands of likes. It had to be true.“ A teenager writes about teenagers and why they trust influencers more than experts. Unsurprising, but harrowing nonetheless.

I quote Paul Graham Raven a lot (also, admire his shelves!). This long-read on the role of storytelling in ‘serious, long-term planning’ is fantastic, and something I’ll be tapping into going forwards:

For my sins, this arrived just as I completed a short course on Programme Management, and I can see how storytelling can fit as a vital tool at both programme and portfolio level; not just for uncovering risks, but also thinking about benefits and ‘dis-benefits’ (I may hate that word, but it is apparently a thing, so sure).

Anyway, not to spoil anything, but you’re getting another long read from Paul as this month’s upcoming ‘dash’ newsletter.

what I’m reading (offline)

This got long, so some rapid-fire recommendations:

Grace D. Li’s Portrait of a Thief. If you liked Ocean’s Eleven. I really liked this. It ticked all my ‘hot people doing cool things’ boxes. The heists are great. The pacing is fast (and furious). It is extremely, shamelessly cinematic. I often wonder if this sort of book could even exist in a pre-cinema world, in the way that it is paced and structured. There’s some light-touch geopolitical philosophising, which gives it a bit of heft.

Olivie Blake’s Masters of Death. If you liked Good Omens. I liked this much more than Atlas Six. It is a bit rougher and, honestly, quite fan-fictiony. But it is a tome-length volume of good banter and nice vibes.

Elise Bryant’s It’s Elementary. If you like, um, … Parks & Rec? I don’t actually have a good reference here. It is a rubbish mystery, but a funny / sweet / touching look at parenting and community.

what I’m cooking

Two wins this week. Some brilliant ribs (including a rib/sauce combo). I was genuinely intolerable after making these. It was the smuggest I’ve ever been, and that’s saying a lot. My presentation was appalling, however. I need to brush up on some of the more aesthetic elements (including ‘how to cut ribs without doing a Jack the Ripper impersonation’). They are pretty spicy. I will start work on a less feisty rib mix next.

I think I’ve nailed a good burger formula. It is replicable and tasty. This is first in a multi-step process which will now involve CHEESE TRIALS. I’m so excited. I love cheese.