The Experience Machine

The Experience Machine is a thought experiment put forward by philosopher Robert Nozick in his 1974 book Anarchy, State, and Utopia. Suppose there was an experience machine that would give you any experience you desired. You can choose whatever experiences you want to have by pre-programming the machine. Once in the machine, your brain would be stimulated so that it felt like you were experiencing everything you had programmed. You would not know that these experiences weren’t real. For you, they would seem just like ordinary life. Plugging into the machine would eliminate toil, struggle and suffering and create a life of perfection. Would you plug in? Many people would choose not to because this perfect life would not be ‘real’. But what would the difference be?