NOTE: Mr. Long will not be replying to any responses to
this particular entry until after Monday when all entries are
submitted. He wants to make sure that his answer/ideas do not bias any
student replies. Plus, he's really impressed by how solid the answers
are so far...and doesn't want to screw up that mojo!
***
Let's be honest, sportsfans. You knew this one was coming.
Didn't you?
During our visit to Austin College this past Friday, Dr. Rod Stewart (from the Philosophy Dept.) presented a striking question to us based on Robert Nozick's thought experiment commonly known as the "Experience Machine".
Background: The experiment came from Nozick's 1971 book, Anarchy, State, Utopia. The link gives you the entire book for free if you want to start reading now -- wink, wink; nudge, nudge.
Want to learn a little bit more before reading the entire book? Check out this link for the Wikipedia article associated with this part of Nozick's research. Pretty interesting.
Okay, let's get back to us.
I thought it'd be interesting to have us discuss the "Experience Machine" a bit more since so many of your classmates had their hands in the air last Friday even though we didn't have nearly enough time for everyone to add their voice.
I also thought he'd be interested in reading your responses now that you've had a few days to think about the original idea, too.
Here is the original question Dr. Stewart asked us:
"Suppose there were an experience 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. 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's desires?...
Of course, while in the tank you won't know that you're 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. (Ignore problems such as who will service the machines if everyone plugs in.)
Would you plug in? What else can matter to us, other than how our lives feel from the inside?" (Anarchy, State, Utopian, 43)
Your challenge is to answer the 3 following questions:
A. Tell us if you'd 'plug in'. No combined answers. You have to pick one. And remember, if you choose to 'plug in' -- for the sake of our conversation -- it is forever (or at least far longer than any normal life we could have now).
B. Tell us why in 7+ sentences. Remember to stay focused on the experiment. As tempting as tangents are, it is far more interesting if all of us remain focused on the original conversation so we can see how our ideas really overlap.
Psst. Here comes the biggie. Here comes the one where you have to peel back the layer beneath the layer beneath the layer beneath the experiment itself. In other words, here comes the is-your-thinking-cap-on question.
C. What was Dr. Stewart really doing by involving you in this question last Friday?