If we could plug everyone in the world into a machine that would stimulate their brain so that they were......

Question

sitting there doing nothing all the time, but were perfectly content and very happy all the time, should we?

Yes sorta like the Matrix, but with a crucial difference - everybody is perfectly happy.

This is a thought experiment guys - picking at the details is hardly the point. Assume for the sake of argument the machinery involved is somehow self-maintaining, and that human reproduction is taken care of also (I dunno how, semen extraction and artificial wombs, doesn't matter). As for 'society' goes - yes it'd stop.

Guys - you WOULD be perfectly content and happy doing nothing, that's what the machine does. My question, I guess, is do we seek more than contentment and happiness in life? And is it sensible to say we're be missing something we need or want if we were content and happy?

Answer 1

No not everyone.

Answer 2

What would be the point, the contentment and happiness would be reliant on a machine to achieve its goal, thus making the whole experience artificial. Kinda sounds like an opiate stupor, just sitting there grinning without a care in the world. After a while the whole experience would become monotonous (except we would be too content to know any different or care).How can you know whats good (to you) without experiencing the bad and vice-versa. Life is about ups and downs with lots of in-betweens, without all of those in the mix, we would simply be existing, not living.

Answer 3

Either you would turn everyone into vegetables, or completely inert -- 100% disconnected from reality, or they would become smart enough to figure out / remember the truth. Unless your machine reality is fatally addictive, some might want reality back just for the sake of being different / unique from the ordinary or to explore what the differences are.

Why do you think people do drugs knowing they are illegal, and harmful to health? People don't really distinguish where the simulations come from. There is no monopoly of it.

Chances are some would accept your machine, others would reject it.

Answer 4

I know this is corny but lifes a journey not a destination. We would destroy the possibility of the future advancement of mankind by doing such a thing. Happiness and contentment are only a small part of the essence of humanity. So personally I'd no, but to say no, inspite of the suffering it would inflict upon those living through war, famine and tyranny is impossible. You'd need to ask those who suffer most in this world, and they don't usually have laptops.

Answer 5

Happiness is a tool that the mind uses to encourage us to strive for our goals; when we work towards what we want, we are happy. Happiness is not an end in itself--it is a motivating factor.

To descend into a blissful stupor would end our very humanity... we are made to invent, to relate, to compete. If we were to be happy, but do nothing else, we would no longer be truly sentient creatures--just useless lumps of meat.

No... to do so would violate people's free will. Many who believe that there is more to life than happiness would refuse to be "plugged in"; and to force them would be wrong.

Even if everyone did agree to it, we'd be completely vulnerable to attack from outside... a meteor, global warming, whatever the machines don't forsee... It would be the end of human society.

There really *is* more to life than happiness. To dead-end all our discoveries, our relationships, our society like that just isn't right.

Answer 6

I mean we'd have happy content people but the 3rd world countries would still be facing starvation right? Unless you mean that all the happy leaders would forget the debts too? But then they couldn't build their new houses and schools if they're just sitting contently? I think we'd have an end to war & crime but what about the finer things in life like love? How would we meet a lover? Or how could we make such amazing friends? I suppose you could make everyone happy and content but leaving them to go about life but something always goes wrong doesn't it? Someone always breaks the mould, meaning we would have to abolish personalities. BUT wouldn't it also put an end to personalities? We wouldn't be ourselves, we'd just exist. It kinda defeats the meaning of life. Like old people? What real quality of life would we have? It's a good question though. It made me think quite a bit.

Also What about those people we love to hate...not like Bush or anyone, just the bitchy people who go about making you look so good by their own nastiness? It may sound crazy but I'd hate the idea of that. Maybe if certain aspects of the whole thing were different like we still could have our personalities and go out and stuff then it'd be cool.

I always think a lot of people need cheering up! I think if it changed the world in a major way, for good cause and as a lasting thing, then it's be ok but thinking about it, the whole stripping emotions from life seems so wrong. But so right, the world needs happiness so I guess my opinion goes towards yes (despite the hitches) it would be Ok...and nothing more than OK and you can't do something like that on an "OK" anyway.

But if you were going to turn round and say "right it's happening then" I'd probably change my tune, you can accept the side effects and grey areas of medicine but I wouldn't be too happy to know that there were grey areas about something like that, something so major and definite. Like Vanilla Sky where he signs up for the Lucid dream which is meant to be so great but it has hitches and ruins his life (or death/afterlife) It's so final you can't go back if it goes wrong. The same thing about building robots for the future (personally I think why build them if you think they'd end up killing us or taking over!? But that’s off the subject) it's just so final but yet such an explorable (if that’s even a word) idea.

Maybe I have the whole aspect of this wrong (I've never seen matrix) lol and if so, I'm quite embarrassed but what a great question...this is what I'm talking about...in life & on here we need more thought provoking questions! But as a whole if it was going to happen I'd say no, but as an idea or for a book or film it'd be good. But I say all this depending on the future and how bad it gets, we could turn out to need it, but only as last resort!

P.S What about the people who have to operate it? They could go on life normally being powerful and doing stuff to take over the world! They could create evil things and make people do evil things. I mean people would agree if they sit there happily nodding right?

Answer 7

"Perfect Happiness" is an evolving state.. Even if the machine is supplying us with the electrical impulses that make us feel "happy", those charges would need to be stronger each time, in order to achieve the same results..

And if it's like the matrix, interactions that might make an individual happy might make another unhappy..

And if you remove interactions, your machine must still know what makes the individual happy at each point in time..

All those details aside (like you said, must be overseen), I must highlight that sometimes I feel like watching a sad movie and crying..

So, if your machine didn't allow me to NOT feel happy, then I'm not so sure I'd sign up for it..

:-)

Answer 8

Isn't that called a coma? Why don't we just extract everyone's brains and stick 'em in jars? That would take up a lot less space and all those bodies would be superfluous anyway.
I wouldn't be perfectly content and happy if I had to sit still and do nothing all the time.

Answer 9

I will answer this question two different ways.

If you do not believe in an after life / religion, then I think we should hook ourselves into these machines. The reason why we do everything that we do is to achieve happiness. Since this machine will accomplish that task, we should use it.

If you believe in an after life then I believe that this machine is not good. This life is meant to be a place were we can learn and grow, and help us achieve our final destiny which is not in this world, So we would be trading temporary happiness for longer lasting happiness. Bad idea religiously.

Answer 10

I would assume that the machine takes care of pain, diseases, nourishment and hygiene, then I couldn't ask for anything else....wouldn't want anything more. It is indeed the ultimate pursuit of mankind that's why we do whatever we're doing right now.

By the way, what would be the side effect? Would the manufacturer honestly indicate any adverse reaction besides a silly smile?

Answer 11

Only if they gave informed consent.

I don't know if anyone would agree to it.
They might do though. If they thought that being content was the point of it all.
It would be pretty pointless though wouldn't it?
How would it all be kept going?
It's a bit like a perpetual motion machine, only its a perpetual happiness machine.
It's impossible, so I won't think about it any more.