Debate: Is pleasure all that matters?

Do not plug in: reality matters

Most people would refuse, which shows that we value more than experiences. We want to actually do things, be a certain kind of person, and be in contact with reality.

Best argument

Nozick gave three reasons. We want to actually do things, not just have the experience of doing them. We want to be a certain way: brave, kind, intelligent, not an indeterminate blob floating in a tank. And we want contact with a deeper reality, not a world limited to what people can construct. If anything matters besides how our lives feel from the inside, hedonism is false.

Strongest objection

Our reluctance may come from fear of the unknown, distrust of the technology, or concern for those we leave behind, not from a genuine valuing of reality. Change the thought experiment and intuitions shift.

Defended by

Robert Nozick, Aristotle

Status quo bias

Our refusal reflects a bias toward whatever we already have, not a deep value of reality.

Best argument

Felipe De Brigard ran a revealing variation: imagine you learn that you are already plugged in, and you can choose to unplug and return to your real life, which is much less pleasant. Many people say they would stay plugged in. If we really valued contact with reality, we should choose to unplug. The asymmetry suggests status quo bias is driving our intuitions.

Strongest objection

The variation changes more than the starting point. Unplugging means abandoning all the people and projects in your current life, which matters to you, even if they are simulated.

Defended by

Felipe De Brigard, Adam Kolber

Plug in

If the machine really provides a better life as experienced, plugging in is the rational choice. Hedonism survives.

Best argument

What else could make a life go well for the person living it, except how it feels to them? The things we think we value for their own sake, like achievement and relationships, we value because of the experiences they bring. If you could have the experiences without the real things, nothing would be missing from your point of view, and your point of view is what your wellbeing is.

Strongest objection

Most people believe that a person who is deceived, for instance someone whose spouse is secretly unfaithful, is worse off than they think, even if they never find out. That suggests wellbeing is not purely a matter of experience.

Defended by

Epicurus, Jeremy Bentham, Torbjörn Tännsjö

Where you stand

Would you plug in for life?

Choose one to see how people answer.

For the full background, variations and open questions, read the entry: Would you plug into the experience machine?.