The Experience Machine

Have you ever had a great dream that you never wanted to wake up from but sadly had to at some point? What if you didn’t have to wake up, would you? In the article “The Experience Machine” Harvard Philosopher Robert Nozicks idea of a machine that gives you any experience you desire is explained. This machine has the power to insert you into a world (a dream world) where you feel as if you can do anything. This includes directing an award winning movie, perform a guitar solo for the president, or even become the president. This is all happening as your actual body floats in a tub with electrodes attached to your brain. This machine even has the power to release you from the world every two years so that you can choose a life for yourself and change it to try something new. In a single life time you would be able to experience going to the moon, writing a novel, pitching in the world series, and much more. But as you’re enjoying this fake reality what is actually going on back in actual reality? This is the fact that concerns me the most. While everyone is living their dreams who are the unlucky few that takes care of earth wile everybody’s gone? If this is as amazing as it seems to be why would anyone not jump into their ideal life? Another question that gets raised is, while in the fake world do you get any sense of accomplishment? If I knowingly jumped into a dream land and become the best director of all time there would be no success there would be absolutely no thrill. And if the machine was made to erase your original mind will in the new world wouldn’t it just be an elongated dream? In this case every time someone created a family or fell in love in this dream world they would just wake up from it in two years and have to start all over again. While back on earth my body is nothing but skin and bones. There is absolutely no real emotion in anyone. If you really think about it however we already have something equivalent to this in many ways. The chemical that is used to knock someone out for a tooth pulling or surgery is very similar to the experience machine. Although you cannot pick your destiny you will one hundred percent of the time get thrown into a new world. Even with this chemical you are able to leave reality and just by having that power people get a glimpse of what it would be like if this experience machine were ever created. And if it is ever created I don’t think I could ever use it because I would be afraid of the real world and its disappointments. I would also be afraid of how many people in my life right now I would lose to this machine. Friends and family that would try it and never want to come back to everyone else who remains on earth.