Why Did Neo Think His Powers Would Work Outside the Matrix?

Question

After asking about how Neo could use his powers outside the Matrix, it left me thinking about this from another point of view.

While there is a question about how Neo could use his powers outside the Matrix, there is another question that comes with that: How did Neo know his power would work on the weapons the Machines were launching at him and the ship?

Neo knew the difference between inside and outside the Matrix, and knew the difference between reality and the fantasy world in the Matrix. On the surface, he had no reason to expect his powers to work outside the Matrix. Something must have given Neo a reason to believe his powers worked in the real world.

What make him think his powers would work against the Machines outside the Matrix?

Answer 1

Remember his line:

Something's different. I can feel them.

He feels that "the real world" is different than before and it reminds him of The Matrix. Additionally: At that point, there was really nothing to lose; the sentinels were about to kill them. Wouldn't you give it a shot if you had a hunch?

Answer 2

Given that the machines were outside agents of the Matrix, perhaps he was simply able to exploit their connection to it. This might also be how he could sense their presence.

Answer 3

Based on this quote:

Morpheus:
That you are a slave, Neo.
Like everyone else you were born into bondage.
Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch.
A prison for your mind.

that Neo's mind has been freed by this point in the story means the question is actually: "why would Neo NOT think this" and if the movie is a metaphor for the nature of reality, and the Matrix within the story is a metaphor of reality, then why would Neo freeing his mind not affect reality?

Answer 4

My beliefs on this are that the first Matrix is superimposed by another Matrix. That's how he could use his powers. He can do more than that but just doesn't know it yet. Oracle, "Know thyself."

Answer 5

I completely agree with Luke on this point and can provide proof that this is the truth in the movie that most people ignored.

The "real world" was not the real world, but simply another layer of Matrix that allowed the people who were not happy with the original Matrix to escape and believe they were free without actually posing a real threat to the machines. The war they were fighting against the machines was a virtual one and none of them had actually ever left a pod. They were all still connected to the Matrix.

The reason that Neo could control the machines is that the "real world" was just another simulated layer. This is also the reason that Smith could transfer into a human. The way the movie confirmed this truth is that when Neo lost his vision he could see the Matrix, but this time the code was yellow instead of green. The "real world" was simply another Matrix, but this different reality was yellow code instead of green.

If Neo was truly in reality he would not have any magical ability to control the machines. Smith would not be able transfer his consciousness into a real person. The real world is not based on computer code so Neo would not see the world as such if he were truly in reality. The "real world", the Matrix with the yellow code was created so that disenfranchised people could escape the green Matrix and yet not be a real threat to the machines as the war they were waging was a virtual one and had no effect on the real machines in the true reality. It also kept them enslaved even though they thought they were free.