‘Reality
What was once called the objective world is a sort of Rorschach ink blot, into which each culture, each system of science and religion, each type of personality, reads a meaning only remotely derived from the shape and color of the blot itself. ~Lewis Mumford
There are no facts, only interpretations. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
I use The Matrix as a metaphor, because it is so utterly applicable. In that movie, Artificial Intelligence [AI] machines raise, and use human bodies for bioelectricity while their minds inhabit a simulated reality based on 1999. The Artificial Intelligence part is crucial.
I suggest the creators of The Matrix intuited, at least, that their metaphor was not far off the mark. The immense popularity of the movie indicates it struck a similar chord with millions. So many wondered, if only briefly, if they were Matrix Batteries, if they lived in a simulated reality.
Analysis of The Matrix