Does the Oracle in the Matrix have anything to do with an oracle machine in computer science?
An oracle machine as defined by Alan Turing is a Turing machine connected to an oracle which can solve non-computable problems in a single operation, most famously the halting problem. The halting problem is the problem of determining whether any arbitrary computer program will eventually halt or continue to loop forever.
I'm wondering if the Oracle character in the series could be seen as inspired by this concept, but I can't remember the plot well enough to determine.
Best Answer
The Oracle's main function is to counterbalance the Architect. It was the Oracle and the Architect who built The Matrix, and the events in the trilogy are actually taking place in the third Matrix, as the first 2 failed. The Oracle stands for free will, whereas the Architect stands for order. As a result, I'd find it difficult to tie Turing's oracle into the plot.
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Answer 2
As a matter of fact, oracles would allow Turing machines to go beyond logic, since they're able to solve problems in constant time; that relates them to imagination or freedom of will and thus to the Oracle in the movie. Of course, it's not an implementation, but it's plausible enough.
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