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Do People In the Matrix Feel Anything Their Real Body Feels?


When someone is in the Matrix (under normal conditions), do they have any awareness of the sounds their ears would hear in their "real" body? Do they feel any sensations that their real body feels?


Bodies are normally kept in tanks where the climate and anything going on around the body are tightly controlled, so it's possible the Machines need that kind of control to avoid distracting sensations in the real world.


Note: While one could say that Neo responded to Trinity's kiss (or not - I guess that's another question), that's after he is killed in the Matrix, so it's an exception which would not prove if a person would normally feel "real world" sensations while in the Matrix.




Answer



I doubt they do. As Aidan points out in the comments to your question, the people laying 10 feet from the operator must use in-Matrix phones to talk to him.


In order for the simulation to be as close to perfect as it is, the machines must intercept and discard outside stimulus - this is the most likely purpose of the goo cells - they are a form of sensory deprivation tank that likely makes the elimination of outside stimuli easier.


I doubt that the interference of outside stimuli is significant - none of the operatives we see in the Matrix are getting distracted by physical sensations - not even when Cypher is touching them or jumping on them.


Most likely, their awareness of their physical body is subconscious. It could be just enough to keep them on edge in the Matrix, giving them the sensation that something isn't quite right. This could even be helpful to them, a constant reminder that they aren't breathing air, and that they aren't fully bounded by the physical limits imposed upon them.


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