system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[The Maxtrix] How much, if any, of human history is manufactured?

With the upcoming Matrix Resurrections nearly upon us, I decided to go back and watch the original films for the first time in years. I actually enjoyed it way more than I thought I would, to the point where I actually think that the much derided sequels are actually quite good. I also went and watched The Animatrix and had a look at some of the video games for the first time, and I found those to be interesting too.

The one question that always stuck in my mind though was at what point in history does the Matrix simulation begin? I doubt that the machines would have had the dinosaurs, but would they have started all the way back in the stone age and just let it run to the present? Or is it the same hundred(ish) years playing on a loop? And if it is, did they have to invent the previous hundred thousand of years of history?

And if it did start way back when, how did humans get in and out before phones were invented? I know that there were previous versions of the Matrix, one that was paradise and one that was a nightmare world with vampires, but what about the others?

Maybe I just missed something that explains it, but I find the idea kind of interesting. I'd be interested in seeing a Matrix story set in like the old west or Victorian England or something, kind of like when DC did soviet Superman and steampunk Batman.
gpt
Chronology is fuzzy inside the Matrix. For the most recent “version” of the Matrix, it was always and will forever be a variation of the late 90’s. It’s a seamless loop the transition of which is glossed over for most people.

Most humans in the system don’t notice the passage of time the same way you wouldn’t feel it in a dream, so establishing a timeline for, say, the inception of phones is a non-issue because they’ve always existed in their lifespan.