The experience machine
Definition
The experience machine is Robert Nozick’s 1974 thought experiment about a machine that gives you any experiences you pick, indistinguishable from reality. Most people say they wouldn’t plug in. That suggests we value more than just experience.
On this site
The Afterlife preset, which is cheaper to run than an ordinary day.
Role in the model
The Afterlife preset is Nozick’s machine, built and measured. Paradise turns out cheaper than an ordinary day. No suffering means no stakes, and no stakes means little to compute. Three of the four schools object. One doesn’t.
Related
In the trees
14 short pages, one per thinker, each with its matching dial. See also the reading list.