The Experience Machine

The Experience Machine

Many theories of satisfaction and happiness state that pleasure can only be achieved by following what is moral and ethical. These theorists suggest that a human being is only happy when they experience what is considered moral or ethical (Gregory 45). However, Robert Nozick, in opposition to these claims, wrote the book “anarchy, state, and Utopia,” where he proposes a thought experiment called the experience machine. The analysis is meant to critique hedonism, which suggests that ethical and moral experiences are responsible for personal pleasure. Thus, Nozick’s experiment poses a test where a human being is put in a comma and exposed to his best experiences without knowledge of the past and whether they are in a comma. Since not many could agree to be put in such a state, Nozick concludes that there is more to personal pleasure, not just morals and ethics. In this easy, I agree with Nozick and provide instances where his claims have been used in modern culture.

Indeed no one would like his brain to be deep in a fluid and hooked to electrodes that send fake simulations to his mind. Even though the pleasure provided is according to one’s desires, it is false and irrelevant. Novick suggests that the joy of life is living according to one’s passion and experiencing actual life, whether negative or positive.  I found the experience machine similar to the movie called “the matrix.” In the film, the real world is desolate and unpleasant, and thus the characters are plugged into an experience machine (Jortner 76). The protagonist, Neo, discovers it from Morpheus and is surprised about all things that one misses when in the simulation world.  Thus the hedonists are wrong when they think that pleasure is the only thing that humans care. Humans want more from their experiences, not just comfort. We are impressed by the struggles we face daily, and overcoming them, in reality, gives us joy and the yearning to continue living.

For instance, if one is deepened into the machine that simulates the life of a cancer doctor, all the patients he would have treated would be in vain because life was not real. Pleasure comes from the struggles we overcome daily in our ordinary lives. It seems that the person in the machine has free will, but in reality, that is not true. Freewill comes from the ability to make decisions on our own without the influence of a third party. When deep into the fluid, we lose all our memories that are part of real life. Thus, our free will is not practical since our minds are controlled by a machine that simulates our desires. The situation is similar to death since there is nothing we can do for ourselves or other people (Hebron 174). The deeds we do when under the influence of the machine are fake and do not impact humanity in any way. We, as humans, are products of our memories. Memories make us who we are and determine our traits and intelligence. Thus pleasures are not the only thing humans crave. Our struggles in life give us a purpose and a reason to live.

Conclusion

Novick’s argument is very reasonable since it offers the reality that humans do not only desire pleasure but require components of life. His argument is valid since it provides a practical way to test whether the hedonistic suggestion is valid. I do not believe that someone plugged into the machine and then retrieved would desire to go back.

Works Cited

Gregory, Alex. “Hedonism.” philarchive.org  (2015).

Hebron Daniel. Why hedonism is wrong (2020)

Jortner, Brian. “A Critical Analysis of Robert Nozick’s Experience Machine.” Philosophical Inquiry 39.2 (2015): 72-78.