The 'Experience Machine'

“Suppose there was a 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 making a friend, or reading an interesting book. [Or even doing fantastic science for which you receive a Nobel Prize.] 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? If you are worried about missing out on desirable experiences, we can suppose that business enterprises have researched thoroughly, the lives of many others. You can pick and choose from their large library or smorgasbord of such experiences, selecting your life’s experiences for, say, the next two years. Of course, while in the tank you won’t know that you are in there; you’ll think it’s all actually happening. Others can also plug in to have the experiences they want, so there’s no need to stay unplugged to serve them.”

(Robert Nozick, in J. Glover, ed., Utilitarianism and Its Critics, p. 58)

Would you hook up to this machine? Why, or why not?