This experiment was first introduced by
Robert Novick, in his book, "Anarchy, State, and Utopia". Novick was an
American political philosopher. He was a professor at Harvard University
from 1969 to 1998.
For
this experiment to be most effective, you need to imagine that you have
no attachments to this world; no family, no friends. Imagine that today
is the first day of your life, but you are you, at the age you are
today.
You are sitting in front of a consent form, trying to decide if you want to sign.
If
you don't sign, you start your life in the real world with all of the
hardships and disappointments that this world offers the human race.
If
you sign the form, you start out with all of your dreams coming true,
(famous rock star, movie star, billionaire), whatever your biggest
dreams are. You also have the guarantee to be kept permanently happy.
Not much of a choice, you might think. The first life would be in the
real world, whereas the second would be entirely within the experience
machine.
This
device enables you to live the whole of your life in a virtual-reality
environment. All your experiences are designed to make you happier and
more satisfied. But crucially, once in the machine you have no idea that
you are not in the real world, nor that what is happening to you has
been designed to meet your needs. It seems you are living an ordinary
life in the ordinary world: it is just that in this life, you are one of
the winners for whom everything seems to go right.
A
couple things to keep in mind; success in life depends so much on luck:
Were you born in the right place, at the right time, to the right
parents? Were you endowed with the abilities your society values and
rewards? Did you have access to the people and places that could help
you get ahead? To say it is better to leave yourself at the mercy of
Lady Luck when you could choose to be happy is crazy.
Also,
if you think that this world is more real because it is caused by
sub-atomic processes rather than silicon chips, perhaps you need to
reconsider your notion of reality. After all, even our concept of the
world of science beyond experiences is ultimately based on observations
and experiments wholly within the world of experience. So in some sense,
reality is just appearance.
Questions:
1. Which option would you choose? And why?
2. Why does it seem that we should feel apprehensive about option 2?
