According to Reddit…so, grain of salt…that is an urban legend, related to a Neil Gaiman short story that appeared on the Matrix promo website.

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1amree7/theres_a_wi...

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bee_rider 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I think we the urban legend really sticks around because the compute explanation just makes much more sense and we all want this beloved movies not to have a sill (albeit inconsequential) plot hole.

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perardi 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Oh, totally, it’s my head canon as well.

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bee_rider 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Mine is either that, or, the idea I mentioned in this post:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47185076

Machines trying to be benevolent, but overly controlling.

	▲	jbaber an hour ago \| parent [-]
		That's very good.