FAQ: THE MATRIX - No, the Laws of Thermodynamics Is NOT Violated
By Jon Therkildsen
It is often stated that using humans as "batteries" in The Matrix Power Plant makes absolutely no scientific sense, as humans will never produce more power than we consume. Voices often quote The Laws of Thermodynamics. And indeed, this is true. It is a fundamental cornerstone of science.
The First Law of Thermodynamics, (aka the Law of Conservation of Energy): Energy cannot be created or destroyed.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics: All closed systems tend toward an equilibrium state where entropy is at a maximum, and where no energy will be available to be used in any form.
The third law of thermodynamics: The entropy of a system approaches a constant value when its temperature approaches absolute zero.
However, to say this about The Matrix is confounding these very laws often quoted. Energy cannot be produced or destroyed, but it can be conformed into a higher degree of usability. This is what all Power Plants do. NONE produce more energy than they consume; that is an impossibility. Trees consume more energy, than their coal can ever provide too.
The energy that Power Plants do produce is in a form we can utilize better. And this goes for all Power Plants, including The Matrix. So, the argument that “Humans cannot be used efficiently as batteries” is moot.
We know that the AI has learned how to harvest electricity from our bodies and our minds, and for that, they need to keep feeding us. They feed us with remains of dead bodies and presumably other sources. Fields of fungi, or algae, or something else that can thrive on essentially no sunlight? This we do not know, but if they have access to such resources, the idea has its merits. And ergo, they must have.
Besides, if all they have - on this burned-out planet- are humans and fields of fungi (let us assume). . . what the hell else could they do with that?
It is not a question of efficiency. It is a question of usability. And apparently, their Matrix Power Plant is more effective than a regular Bio-Plant. However, neither creates more energy than consumed. They conform energy and produce electricity with it. And therefore, using humans as batteries is not, by default, scientifically unsound.
It may seem unnecessarily cumbersome given the many ways we know how to create electricity - and it is - but scientifically, there is no obvious conflict. To further combat such inquiries from curious viewers, the movies even tell us it is in combination with some form of fusion. I guess this is the “fi” part of the sci-fi, and, indeed, it does elevate it to seem less troublesome, purely from a cost-benefit point of view.
In any case, when analyzed at face value, the Laws of Thermodynamics are not violated by a Matrix power plant.
Photos via Google - © 1999 & 2003 WARNER BROS
Movies referenced are: “The Matrix (1999)”. “The Matrix - Reloaded (2003)”, “The Animatrix (2003)” & “The Matrix- Revolutions (2003)”. All Rights Reserved © 1999 & 2003 WARNER BROS.