Robert Nozick The Experience Machine Summary

Robert Nozick’s philosophical experiment "The Experience Machine", is about whether or not humans care only about the pleasures they gain through their experiences. The experience machine is a made-up idea for someone who believes pleasure is all there is to life. When candidates plug into the machine, they will live their most pleasurable life. The idea is that once they are in the machine they won't know it's not reality. Prior to entering the experience machine, the candidates who are interested will create their dream lives as they always imagined. Next, they plug into the imaginary machine to think their most pleasurable thoughts for the next two years. When the two years have transpired, the candidates can step out to re-choose the way
they want their lives to be. Then, they go back into the tank to dream about it. They will create their lives in a way they want it to be so that they could achieve as much pleasure as possible. The candidates that get plugged into the machine are those who don't have any second thoughts, caring about the pleasure they will gain through the experience. However, Nozick mentions that those who choose not to go into the tank realize that life is not just about experiencing pleasure. Nozick argues, that many of us won’t choose to go into the machine, thinking twice about the idea