Can a good life be lived inside a Virtual Reality Program?
The revolution came, but not in the way we expected.
Nash, a private investigator, is working for a major Virtual Reality company called Synternis. In this future, 75% of the world’s population is Connected, meaning they spend most of their time inside the VR called Verses.
Nash is considered a hybrid: he spends equal amounts of time inside the Verses as he does outside them. Though, initially, he seems to have some disdain for those who are Connected. Not only are they usually morbidly obese or disturbingly thin, they are less hygienic and, subsequently, have much lower life spans; Forty years according to Nash’s employer.
But Nash’s real problem appears to lie in the idea that people are essentially escaping reality.
People don’t give a damn about reality anymore.
-Nash, 2047 Virtual Revolution
But is Virtual Reality an escape from the “real” world? The late philosopher Robert Nozick would likely argue that it is, and that we should avoid it if we desire a life that is good. Basically, he argues against the idea that a good life is founded on the pursuit of pleasure–an idea in philosophy called Hedonism.
In his thought experiment “The Experience Machine” Nozick lays out several points as to why we would not want to plug into such a thing. But first, let’s talk about exactly what this experience machine consists of.
- The experience machine is capable of simulating whatever experiences we find most valuable.
- Every two years you get to choose what happens to you for the next two years.
- While inside the machine, you won’t know that you are in one. You think it’s all actually happening.
- Conditions: Exclude problems like who will service the machine or whether the experience you desire is available ( we assume that whatever you wish can be achieved)
Got it? Awesome! Now, let’s move on to some of the particular points he makes as to why we shouldn’t plug in.
- We want to be a certain way, to be a certain sort of person. There is no answer to the question of what a person is like who has long been in the tank (experience machine).
- Why should we be concerned only with how our time is filled, but not with what we are?
- There is no contact with any deeper reality, though the experience of it can be simulated.
- This clarifies the conflict over psychoactive drugs, which some view as mere local experience machines, and others view as avenues to a deeper reality.
- Nozick allows the use of other machines to fill in the gaps caused by the experience machine, such as the transformation machine which could transform us into whatever sort of person we want to be. He states that surely one would not use the transformation machine to become as one would wish, and thereupon plug into the experience machine!
- Perhaps what we desire is to live ourselves, in contact with reality.
Here’s what I think!
- 1R. Why wouldn’t we be able to determine what a person is like who decides to connect? Consider two possible worlds. In the first one, the participant wishes to be a trophy hunter, scouring the world for the most exotic beasts to add to his collection. In the second world, the participant chooses to run a wildlife preservation. Can we not say with some certainty that the former cares less for nonhuman animals than the latter? We could argue that the preservationist more clearly upholds the idea of the sanctity of life, especially considering that they’ll full believe that their simulated experiences are real.
- 2R. It depends on what Nozick means by “what we are”. What we are could be a matter of the decisions we make in addition to our memories, both of which could be profoundly important inside the machine. If, when inside, we have forgotten the outside, then the time spent is a non-factor. We should still care about who we are inside the machine because it will, at least temporarily, be all we know.
- 3/4/6R. From the philosophical view of Skepticism, we can’t even be sure that what we are currently experiencing is actual reality! Every point of knowledge ends in an infinite regress. How do you know that? And how do you know that you know that? Well, how do you know that you know that you know that? Anyone with children should understand how simple questions can lead to a complicated chain of answers that eventually end with you throwing your hands in the air in defeat. Or simply saying “that’s just the way it is.”
- And when it comes to psychoactive drugs, what happens if the majority is taking them? We can assume that the stigma attached to them will decrease significantly and the use of them will be encouraged, as would widespread use of the machine. If everyone is using it, is it an escape from reality or the joining of a community?
- 5R. One may not use both the transformation machine and the experience machine because they could develop into who they want to be inside the experience machine. This makes the transformation machine unnecessary. It would also seem to be a counterpoint to Nozick’s own idea that we can’t tell what kind of person someone is inside the machine because if they would also require a transformation machine, then that person must already be a certain way.
As a side note, Nozick appears to be against Hedonism, but choosing not to plug in could also be seen as hedonistic. One may simply be taking pleasure in bettering themselves the hard way.
In the end, Nash decides to become Connected like most of the population. He, like myself, finds reality to be an arbitrary concept given that the brain couldn’t tell the difference.
And who’s to say that what I’m experiencing isn’t real?
Nash, 2047 Virtual Revolution
Sc1Fly the Critic 