Are we a virus?

“I'd like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species, and I realized that humans are not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment; but you humans do not. Instead you multiply, and multiply, until every resource is consumed. The only way for you to survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern... a virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer on this planet, you are a plague, and we... are the cure.”
- Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith in The Matrix


I found this quote amusing not only in reference to Zygmunt Bauman but also the other readings. When the question of consumerist society arose in all these readings and how to defined it, I personally found this reference the most valuable. It matches very nicely with what Bauman stated on page 23 of Work, Consumerism, and The New Poor From the Work Ethic to the Aesthetic of Consumption, ”to consume also means to destroy. In the course of consumption, the consumed things cease to exist, literally or spiritually. Either they are ‘used up’ physically to the point of complete annihilation, such as when things are eaten or worn out, or they are stripped of their allure, no longer arouse or attract desire, and forfeit their capacity to satisfy one’s needs and wishes.” After doing these readings, what else needs to be said? Is the computer the cure as it is in the Matrix? Hoepfully it will not go that far. I also find it amusing that in that same film series, the designer of that program is called the architect. Actor Helmut Bakaitis stated “I am the Architect. I created the Matrix. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not.” So as we look into the future via The Matrix, I find it amusing that we as architects will end up trying to save the world from over consumption. Is that what we are doing by taking this class? After all of our attempts as architects to alter consumerism, will we ultimately have to figure a way around it and simple take control without the mindless consumers even realizing it? How close or far from reality is this film?