The Experience Machine Thought Experiment
Nozick's 1974 thought experiment challenging ethical hedonism: would you plug into a machine that provides any experience you want? Most people refuse, suggesting we value more than subjective pleasure.
The Experience Machine is a thought experiment by Robert Nozick from *Anarchy, State, and Utopia* (1974, pp. 42–45). It asks: suppose there were a machine that could give you any experience you desired — writing a great novel, making a friend, reading an interesting book. While plugged in, you would believe everything was real. Would you plug in for life? Nozick argues most people would refuse, for three reasons: (1) we want to actually *do* things, not merely have the experience of doing them; (2) we want to *be* certain kinds of people — a person floating in a tank is not courageous, kind, or creative; (3) we want contact with a deeper reality beyond what humans have constructed. Nozick explicitly stipulates that others can also plug in, eliminating obligation-based objections: 'Others can also plug in to have the experiences they want, so there's no need to stay unplugged to serve them.' The thought experiment is designed to refute ethical hedonism — the view that only subjective experience matters. Empirical studies show approximately 84% of people are averse to plugging in, though the framing significantly affects results. Nozick revisited the scenario in *The Examined Life* (1989), introducing 'result machine' and 'transformation machine' variants. The thought experiment remains one of the most discussed in contemporary philosophy, particularly in debates about well-being and hedonism.