In The Matrix, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) explains to Neo that the world is crappy because humans wanted it that way. The AI overlords initially created a different, kinder version of the Matrix. (The all-subsuming virtual reality that keeps humans engaged while they serve as batteries for their AI overlords.) (Uh, spoilers?)

That first edition, according to Smith, was a perfect world:

But humans didn’t believe it.

We couldn’t live in peace and harmony because, Smith posits, we’re inherently des...