The Matrix

[Jeunemaitre]

First off, it doesn't matter whether the brain waves generate energy or not.

Kasreyn- no offense taken. She fully admits that she's not the most computer savvy person in the world. I think this time though it was less a matter of computer literacy, and more a matter of non-interest, or inattention. A friend and I dragged her out to see the movie, so I can't blame her for being less than up to date. However, it does make having those deep discussions she wants a little difficult when I'm trying to start one and she's trying to figure out who the guy in the white suit is ("it doesn't matter who he is, er it is. What matters is what he does, er did, er, well... never mind") I'm much more coherent in type, than in person...

Regarding the quote I snipped, I've been operating on the impression that the source of energy is heat. I know that the body doesn't put out enough heat to make steam from water to turn a turbine, but I thought I remembered something in Morpheus' "desert of the real" speech in the first movie that the primary output is x btu's of thermal energy. I agree that trapping brainwaves for energy is near useless, but siphoning heat may be more beneficial than playing rock-paper-scissors with energy, entropy and work. Also, heat may be more useful to the machines than aqueous proteins, which do nicely for people who don't know the difference. Maybe it's a metter of specialized production: the marginal cost of heat to the humans is lower than the marginal cost of heat to the machines, so if the machines can get the humans to do the heat production, the machines can spend their resources elsewhere. Of course I could be completely wrong...

edit: wanted to add the economics (marginal cost) reference the first time, but I had to think it through.