Suppose there were an experience machine that would give you any experience you desired. Superduper neuropsychologists could stimulate your brain so that you would think and feel you were writing a great novel, or were famous and admired, or extremely intelligent... Whatever you wanted life to be for you; bigger and better than your "real" life.
All the time you would be floating in a tank, with electrodes attached to your brain. Should you plug into this machine for life, preprogramming your life experiences?
Once you are in the machine, you will not know you are there; you will think all experiences are really happening.
(from Robert Nozick's "Anarchy, State, and Utopia" 1974)
Remember, this is voluntary - it is not like the Matrix where humans are being duped.
Would you plug in? Why or why not?
2007-06-06 01:57:04 · 17 answers · asked by FIGJAM 6 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
I would not plug-in. If my experiences are pre-programmed, I assume that I would be choosing positive, unique experiences I think I may not otherwise have the chance for in a regular life. If so, there would be no opportunity for failure, and therefore a lack of growth. (If my assumption is incorrect and I could preprogram my failure, I still wouldn't plug in -- why program failure when it comes so natural in real life? : )
What's great about an unplugged life is that we are allowed, if we choose, to wander aimlessly and to explore adjacencies and tangents. Not to mention we would be imprisoned by a predetermined program, and therefore have no real choices after plugging in. And there is a great deal of satisfaction is carving your own path and making discoveries.
Overall, I'd play the hand I was dealt, or fold and change my cards. I wouldn't try to cheat to win every hand, though. Why bother playing?
2007-06-06 04:12:24 · answer #1 · answered by Get Smart™ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Experience Machine
2016-10-03 10:55:27 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope...not I. There is no substitute for the real thing. Think about all of the random, unexpected experiences you would miss! The people you would never meet, and love, and share with. You would be living a movie or TV series at best. I would never surrender the experience of having shared my father's bedside as he died, to all of the sensual and peak experiences super-duper psychologist could conjure. Or the smile of the homeless man I shared a meal with last Thanksgiving to eternal visits to a virtual reality banquet in France. You learn as life progresses that it is the unexpected experiences and people you would never had imagined or pre-programed into your live that have had the deepest impact.
There is an old curse that goes, " May God grant you everything you ever ask for." That right, it's a curse. This plug in would be a lie devoid of substance and random opportunity. Yes, you could program out the "bad stuff" but it is often the bad stuff that allows you to truly savor and appreciate the good. " While you can see more clearly in the day, it is at night that you can see the farthest star."
2007-06-06 02:13:30 · answer #3 · answered by X 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would definitely test drive it...
But most themes that deal with that kind of Utopia point out that what makes "true" life so intense, is the fact that it is poignantly sweet, and brutally dangerous at the same time...and is way too damn short...
In other words, the constant battle against death and suffering is "why" we enjoy life...we are the way we are because for a million years, we've evolved to handle some of the most intense survival situations any animal on the planet is challenged with...
And we enjoy the success of surviving...and survive to live for that success (a billion years of trial and error, and natural selection has produced us humans...and we are a pretty hardy species...
Our day to day survival IS our success...and we secretly love it (the contest, the constant challenge)
Your hypothetical "experience machine," as many authors with similar ideas have pointed out, might take away that "realness," and even if you could die in the machine...
The knowledge that you're just a bunch of 1's and 0's (simulated) would always remind you that you're not "real..." and even if you covered all the basics...
It just wouldn't be the same as living under a "real" blue sky, on a spinning planet we call Earth...
"In Some Galaxy Far, Far, Away..."
In the "real" universe...
But, depending on my "experience" in your machine...
I reserve the right to change my mind if it was "really" good...!
2007-06-06 02:21:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would not, because what is fun about life is about the learning process, the process of achieving a goal.
If suddenly I would be able to write a wonderful novel, I would have missed all the little steps that make us feel proud of ourselves. Mistakes and difficulties are part of life, I think this machine would give a one dimension to experiences.
2007-06-06 02:11:58 · answer #5 · answered by Flyinghorse 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fake or Real? What is Real? How do you define real? How do you choose from all available experiences?
No... I would not. Why? I prefer the old fashion way of seeking the experiences and having the "universe" decide what experiences I require for learning towards my growth in life.
I would feel like missing on the opportunity of having real and most important "random" experiences that are usually, because unexpected and because you may not be ready for them, the ones that teach, surprise, enrich your life the most.
2007-06-06 04:55:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, talk about the age of instant gratification, what good is getting the results if you don't learn from the questions ? Why not be born and die on the same day and skip everything in between ?
That would open up a whole new realm to " What is the meaning of life ".
2007-06-06 02:19:04 · answer #7 · answered by Louie O 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. There is a fine line between dreams and reality. Who knows i could already be plugged into the" experience machine "and what i am experiencing is not the real world .After all as you have pointed out i would not be aware of any machine involved with my "reality".
2007-06-06 02:19:00 · answer #8 · answered by ROBERT P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, thanks you very much. The beauty and in the same time the difuculty of the life is that in almost every minute you have to make choises for what do you want to live or not (even if some of them are mistaken). This machine may take away your freedom of choise.
2007-06-06 02:32:07 · answer #9 · answered by chrisvoulg1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, one of my greatest joys in life is helping others, and even if I were to believe that I was making a difference in the world, I wouldn't really be doing anything. So what would be the purpose of my life?
2007-06-06 02:10:31 · answer #10 · answered by weebee 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋