THINKER'S ALMANAC - November 16

Given a choice, would most people choose a computer-simulated reality over their real life?

Subject: Happiness - The Experience Machine

Event:  Birthday of philosopher Robert Nozick, 1938

On this day in 1938, philosopher Robert Nozick was born in Brooklyn.  In his 1974 book Anarchy, State and Utopia, Robert Nozick presents a famous thought experiment called “The Experience Machine”:

Imagine an experience machine that could simulate any reality you choose.  The machine would be designed by brain experts.  When hooked up to the machine, you would think and feel whatever experience you desired, but in reality would be floating in a tank. The simulation would be so perfect, that you would never know that you are in a tank; instead, you would truly believe that what you are experiencing is reality.  Based on this description, would you choose to be plugged into the experience machine?

Most people choose reality over the simulated reality of Nozick’s Experience Machine.  However, another version -- by Felipe De Brigard of Duke University -- reframes Nozick’s thought experiment:

Imagine a man dressed in black knocks on your door one early Saturday morning.  He informs you that you have been mistakenly plugged into an experience machine.  This means every experience you have had up to the present -- both good and bad -- has been a simulation by a computer program.  The man in black is apologetic, saying you were never supposed to be hooked up to the machine.  He then offers you a choice:  

1. You can remain connected to the machine.  If you choose this option, the memory of the visit by the man in black will be erased from your brain.

2. You can be disconnected from the machine.  However, you should know that the real-life you have without the machine is entirely different.

Based on this scenario, which of the two options would you select?

                                                                Image by Septimiu Balica from Pixabay 

Based on the surveys done by De Brigard, he has found that 59 percent of respondents choose option one, to remain connected to the machine.

What is interesting about the two different versions of the experience machine thought experiment, is how they frame the scenario differently related to change and the status quo.  In Nozick’s version, most choose the status quo of reality over change to a simulated reality.  In De Brigard’s version, most also choose the status quo; however, in this case, the status quo is a simulated reality.

These results are consistent with Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky’s work on loss aversion, the fact that humans experience more pain by losing something than gaining something.  For example, losing a twenty dollar bill for many would be twice as painful as the pleasure experienced in finding a twenty dollar bill (1).

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How are the two versions of the experience machine thought experiment framed differently, and how does that framing account for the different responses that people have to them?

Challenge - The Wisdom of Change:  A famous joke that says that nobody likes change except for a wet baby.  Do some research on quotations about change.  Select the one you think is the most insightful.  Write it down, and explain why it stands out for you.

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

November 16, 1932:  On this date in 1932, the philosopher Bertrand Russell (1870-1970) published an essay entitled, “On Proverbs.”  For Russell the key characteristic of these proclamations of practical, timeless wisdom is that “they are remarkable for their terseness.”  Proverbs are models of economical writing, short, pithy, and usually anonymous.  As an example, Russell presents “More haste, less speed,” saying that it “could not possibly be said in fewer words.” While he is impressed with the terseness of proverbs, Russell sees a problem in using them to support an argument:

The great advantage of a proverb in argument is that it is supposed to be incontrovertible, as embodying the quintessential sagacity of our ancestors.  But when once you have realized that proverbs go in pairs which say opposite things you can never again be downed by a proverb; you merely quote the opposite.  

So, for example, when one person proclaims “Actions speak louder than words,” the other person can turn to the counter-proverb “The pen is mightier than the sword” (2).

Sources:

1-Henderson, Rob.  “How Powerful is Status Quo Bias.” Psychology Today 29 Sept. 2016.

2-Russell, Bertrand.  Mortals and Others, 1932:  133-34.