Would you do it?

Question

If you had the opportunity to go into a pleasure/experience machine that gave you everything in your life that you desired simple by plugging your brain into a machine would you do it? You can program the machine to give you all the things in life that you want, and you will never ever know that you are plugged in. It will feel as if you are really truly living your life. But, you are guaranteed to get everything that you want (if you want to write a novel, you can do it and succeed, or be a doctor, or a black belt martial artist, be married, have children etc). The catch is that you will never come out of it, and live that way forever. You will never know you are plugged in once you are, but you still will be. But you are guaranteed to have a fabulous life. Would you do it?

Note: once you are plugged in you wont know it, therefore, you will not know what lies ahead of you (but you have previously planned it out to be good)

Answer 1

That is a very good question. I have never thought about this before. As great as a "perfect" life sounds, I probably would not do it. Spending the rest of your life plugged into a machine isn't really a life. You will never actually do any of the things the machine is making you see. Your family will miss you terribly, because your actual body will be like a vegetable. Maybe i have misread your question, but this is how I see it. You will also miss out on alot of learning experiences, and, basically, experiences in general. I wouldn't do it. But your question is great, and I'm going to star it. I hope you get alot of answers, because I want to know what others think about this.

Answer 2

As good as it sound. NO. simply because you will never know that your plugged in. Now if I know that I'm plugged into a fantasy world then that's fine but if you have no knowledge that your plugged in, then your basically living a lie. That's a programmed life. And if this life was so good then why hold back on being knowledgeable of the fact that your being setup. You have no real success, nothing true exists because someone or something else depicts your happiness

Answer 3

Your idea offers the equivalent of an afterlife.

I'd say yes, because life is short, and you've offered an opportunity to "live that way forever." But I would only choose this fantasy if I could no longer survive in the real world due to disease or another ailment.

Being plugged into a fantasy is better than being dead, I suppose, but I don't know by how much.

Answer 4

No, I wouldn't. In my life, I have learned from experience that even the seemingly pleasurable experiences have a cost, and I'd rather be in control of the road I walk rather than a machine doing the walking for me. NO machine could ever replace the turns on my road. If I had someone else doing my walking for me, I'd just be a follower. I do follow the Lord, and it's a good path to be on. GBU

Answer 5

If it works the way that you describe, then in actuality, I would be playing God but deceiving myself by not knowing that it was I that planned my whole life. So really I would be God. hmmm, I don't think I like the sound of it, however tempting.

I can't explain it but it just doesn't seem right. Maybe if they had this kinda of machines for people in coma's. Now that would be a nice step in the right direction.

But what if even that isn't right. What if you are cutting off the person's mind to the spiritual side of things. They die never having their chance.

I'll have to admit that this is a very hard topic.

Answer 6

well, it sort of depends, i suppose, on something fairly major.

Can you feel pain while youre hooked to the machine? do you ever fail at anything you attempt?

Basically, what good does it do to have everything in your life flow flawlessly if you never have the bad things to help you appreciate it. when youre planning out what you want to do in the machine, i doubt that many of us would say "oh, well, i should throw some failures in there, just so i can appreciate the good stuff." but if we listen to kahlil gibran's prophet, we have to figure that our sorrows dig a cavity into us, and the more sorrow we experience, the higher our propensity to experience joy. so if we're in this machine and we never feel sorrow, how do we know that what we're experiencing is good.

the other problem i would see with the experience of the machine is that as we grow, our interests change. but we have esentially fated ourselves to go in one path, whether we want to or not, by planning out our experience beforehand.

Answer 7

You know, From personal experience in life, the road that you have to take to get where your going is one of the best parts. You live, learn lessons, meet new people and take risks. Rather than having things just given to you. Yes, it would be soo incredibly nice. To have all your questions answered, to bot have to stress or worry about things that seem to drive us crazy. To have all your dreams come true. But again, Its the pathway to get where your going thats the funnest.

Answer 8

I wouldn't but at the same time my life may already just be an illusion albeit a far from perfect one so your idea intrigues me but at this point I would have to decline.

Answer 9

Totally Dude!

Answer 10

No, if I get everything I want, I would become more spoiled than I already am, and I would be weak too cuz I never would have to work. My body would waste away while my mind wanders.