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Thought Experiment 98: The Experience Machine

7/3/2017

6 Comments

 
Picture
Hello! I've been off touring again, this time through Belgium and a few other places for the last two weeks. Mostly, I went there to ride my bike over some of the toughest roads that professional cyclists ever race. Why? Because of the quote in this sign, that's why! Which also just happens to segue nicely into this week's thought experiment.

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     Robert had been sitting in front of the consent form for two hours and still he did not know whether to sign it or shred it. His choice was between two futures.
     In one, his prospects were bleak and the chances of realising his dreams slim. In the other, he would be a famous rock star guaranteed to be kept permanently happy. Not much of a choice, you might think. But whereas the first life would be in the real world, the second would be entirely within the experience machine.
     This device enables you to live the whole of your life in a virtual-reality environment. All your experiences are designed to make you happier and more satisfied. But crucially, once in the machine you have no idea that you are not in the real world, nor that what is happening to you has been designed to meet your needs. It seems you are living an ordinary life in an ordinary world: it is just that in this life, you are one of the winners for whom everything seems to go right.
     Robert knows that once he is in the machine, life will be great. But still, something about its phoniness makes him hesitate to sign the form that will take him to this paradise.

Source: Chapter 3 of Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick, 1974.

Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 292.
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So what would you do? Would you sign up for the experience machine? Or would you rather join me by suffering through your own version of The Wall? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be back on Friday to explain my choice.
6 Comments
Disagreeable Me
7/3/2017 03:44:19 pm

Hi Ed,

I think I have a little problem with the thought experiment as it is set up. I'm going to nitpick a little first and then replace the thought experiment with a similar one.

First, I'm not convinced that it is even conceptually possible to guarantee permanent happiness without rewiring somebody's mind entirely, and if this rewiring were done then Robert would not be Robert. He would be consenting to be destroyed and replaced with a happy replica, and not just that, but an inane, inhumanly blissed out replica.

So we can relax that guarantee and ask about being put in a world where all we guarantee is success and that every wish would be fulfilled. I don't know that I would find such a life satisfying. It would be great at first but it might ultimately be miserable.

Another problem is that Robert is being asked to say goodbye to all his family and friends, which he might not want to do not only because he might miss them but because they would miss him.

I take the point of the thought experiment to be to to question whether we value mere experiences or authentic experiences. A question such as this is posed by The Matrix. Would you prefer to stay in the pleasant simulation, or leave the simulation into a harsh, dystopian reality?

I'd prefer to stay in the simulation. I value well-being, not reality for reality's sake.

But I also value challenge and personal improvement. So I'd prefer a tough challenging reality to an effortless, challenge-free simulation.

Reply
SelfAwarePatterns link
7/3/2017 04:02:52 pm

I wouldn't sign. Not because I like suffering or see any inherent virtue in it, but because I think the best prospects for long term survival and well being lie in dealing with the real world, and I wouldn't trust any assurances that the experience machine would protect me from anything going wrong in that outer world.

On the other hand, if my reality were bleak enough, such as dying from a terminal illness with no hope of recovery, I might be tempted.

Reply
Ed Gibney link
7/4/2017 02:41:32 pm

Great answers! You're stealing much of my thunder. If you haven't seen it, I highly encourage watching the TV series Black Mirror. Episode 4 in season 3 is roughly related to this—especially Mike's (SelfAwarePattern's) last comment. Note that each episode is a one-off sci-fi short story so there's no need to watch them in order.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4538072/?ref_=ttep_ep4

Reply
Disagreeable Me
7/4/2017 04:26:16 pm

Hah!

Mike's comment made me think of the same episode!

(Yes, it's very good!)

Reply
SelfAwarePatterns link
7/4/2017 03:51:31 pm

I generally find Black Mirror too dark for my tastes. But someone else clued me in to the San Junipero episode a while back and I did watch and enjoy it. (I realize San Junipero is itself ultimately dark, but seeing it requires thought.)

Reply
GST Courses link
11/19/2017 11:34:57 am

Amazing blog and very interesting stuff you got here! I definitely learned a lot from reading through some of your earlier posts as well and decided to drop a comment on this one!

Reply



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