This Thought Experiment Changed THE MATRIX

Would you actually choose to unplug from a reality-creating machine? Or would a slight change to Morpheus' proposition in THE MATRIX change your mind?

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[kylehill]

Thanks for watching! Reality may be simulated, but my appreciation is not.

[Space_Racer]

Something that these questions miss on the matrix is that all of the other people in the matrix are real people. The relationships made in the matrix are real and those people can be moved from simulation to real life with you. I feel like that changes a lot of people's choice to leave the simulation or not.

[PinataOblongata]

I once phone surveyed people about water treatment for a job. We asked them if they would drink water recycled from sewage waste if it was 100% clean and safe. Even though they were assured of the safety and that it was just pure water, they still didn't like the _though_ of it. So you can't really say to a correspondent "you won't even know the difference between this reality and the simulated one" because in their mind they think they somehow will still know the difference, even though that's not the scenario you've given them.

[GeekPsychologist]

I think one of the biggest flaws comparing The Matrix with the experience machine proposed by Nozick, and why probably a lot of people, included myself, chose to plug in, is relationships. In the movies we are told other real people exist and are connected into the Matrix, one could form REAL relationships with other humans beings, even if inside a simulation. Meanwhile, the experience machine thought experiment suggests you are being separated from all reality, including other human beings.

If I had to choose between staying plugged in into my life, it would greatly depend on the reality outside said life. The others around me exist outside of the simulation? Do I have a relationship with another human being or with an AI programmed to have said relationship with me? Those, I believe, are the most important factors separating the premise from The Matrix from Nozick's ideas.

[damouze]

There was actually a movie before the Matrix trilogy that dealt with these questions. It's called "Total Recall", it came out in 1990 and it is based on the 1966 short story "We remember it for you wholesale" by Philip K. Dick. In fact, in the movie the main character is also given the choice of consuming a pill to go back to reality. The experience machine experiment is presented as the subject entering a dream-like state in which a simulated reality is imposed on the senses. In the case of the main character, the simulation is about him as a secret agent making a trip to Mars.

[_khooman_chronicles_]

This was actually tackled in the movies itself. When they remove Neo from the matrix, they specifically say "He's too old to be leaving the matrix" meaning that the more old and attached he becomes to the matrix, the more it'd be hard for him to leave it. The only reason Neo was able to, was because he resented his current life and was a rebel at heart... The perfect specimen for men ready to leave matrix.

[uekernas]

As I recall, Morpheus kind of alludes to this in an early scene, when he asks Neo: “How do you define real? If real is what you can see and touch, then reality is simply electrical impulses interpreted by your brain.”

[justineck]

This reminds me of the simulated jail sentence in ST DS9. O'Brien breaks some law on a nearby planet and they implant a memory of him spending 20 years in prison and then woke him up and sent him home to deal with his ptsd. If we could create the experience machine to implant a perfect life then we could also use it as a form of punishment or even torture. We don't need any more help being terrible to each other, we're good enough at it already.

[nitev]

The fact that Kyle is wearing his Basilisk shirt is very appropriate for this video.

All hail the Basilisk!!!

[willb.nimble]

This is interesting in how it relates to those that get addicted to MMO's and such. They are willingly plugging into the machine, because of what it gives them compared to what they have.

[Stratocaster]

I'm curious how someone's mental health or living situation affects their decision. I wouldn't unplug because I am in a fairly good place in life and feel like I'd miss all the people I care about (even if they're fake NPCs), but there are times I'm sure I would've wanted anything else but this current reality

[mikeanco]

Speaking for myself, I'm autistic, I have very frequently gone through this thought experiment. I have always concluded that I would prefer the life that I judge as 'better', regardless of 'realness'. Provided internally it feels the same, I always feel a little disassociated from the real world so it's challenging for me, as I don't know whether I would feel any differently inside a simulation, arguably I would feel better inside a simulation as the AI would be able to adapt to me and inside my simulation people would likely react better to me and my challenges

[cmd]

Having severe depression and an unfulfilling life does skew my thoughts on this experiment rather significantly. I would absolutely unplug or plug in to change my status quo because I don't like the status quo at all. Reality doesn't much matter at all to me if it means I can not deal with the feelings and issues I'm dealing with now. It makes me wonder if additional surveys on this topic with more specific demographics might yield different/interesting results.

If you ask people with depression this thought experiment what will the results be? People living in poverty? People living in the upper class? How much does the quality of your current status quo affect your answer? Sure the experiment had the variable of how good life was outside of the simulation, but how well does it factor in how good life is inside it right now? Also what about neurodivergent versus neruotypical people? Would a divergent mind be more inclined towards one answer or another? It feels like this thought experiment can really use some more data and whatnot.

[Ariuss]

One thing that would be tough for me about being in a simulation is the knowledge that I have a second body or a computer in the "real" world that could be destroyed, or tampered with. A sense of helplessness at not being aware what is going on in the other world, yet your life depends on what is happening to you there, is tough.

[DolanOk]

I voted to stay plugged in the first poll because I knew what unplugging meant, many people lied and tried to seem virtuous by saying they'd unplug. Mostly everyone would rather stay in their own life currently (even if it's simulated) than go into a cold dangerous world with killer machines after you. They've just watched the Matrix too much and don't know they're the side characters who die if they really unplug.

[aerynstormcrow]

I’ve thought about this a lot. I think I’d I could set up a fictional universe of my liking with rules and physics that worked the way I wanted them to them I would prefer the “Simulation”. If it was just another version of what we have right now…I’d stay where I am.

[Dan-Simms]

When I woke up from a week long coma I thought I was waking from the matrix and instantly ripped out all my tubes, IVs and tried (ouch) my catheter...they really should have a large hospital sign posted in the room of coma patients.

[Xanatrix]

I think there is a facet that is missed with the whole "first version of the Matrix was too perfect and humans kept waking up" scenario; if you have a life of nothing but positive experiences, you have no negative experiences to compare it to, and everything becomes the same. Much like light and darkness both define each other, negative and positive experiences define each other.

[Veerorith]

Context is everything in these cases.

If I'm being asked to unplug, and learn that my life as it stands will be left behind, with my friends and family erased as they were part of a program meant to entertain me, I'd be extremely upset and conflicted, and I may well choose to stay, to stay with that family.

If I'm asked to unplug knowing that my friends and family are also real people who can unplug with me, then I would weigh the pros and cons of that life vs the unplugged one, and what one I would be happiest in, as well as if those friends and family would come with me.

If asked to plug in, I would only agree if I could take friends and family with me, or they could visit, or I could basically come and go as I please.

I think the biggest factor for me is I want to know what is real and a simulation. I don't give a shit which is which in terms of which I live in, but I don't want to forget anything. And I want my friends and family, especially my SO to come with me.

I think the weird thing that I hate about this sort of question is its all or nothing. Do you wanna plug in and forget this current life of yours, or do you wanna never ever plug in? What if I want to plug in for an afternoon skydiving without having to hire a big ass plane and actually chuck myself out of it? What if I want to hop on to have a nice dinner with a friend who lives in a different city that I haven't seen a while? I think the ability to come in and out of a virtual world, and hopefully have that world be something you can share with other real people, would be the ideal goal. Basically give me full dive VR type stuff, without the whole 'you are stuck here and can't remember life outside' bullshit. I don't want to lose my memory, because thats part of who I am. I don't want to lose my connections because those are part of who I am.

So I want to be able to remember, and come and go as I please essentially. Not in 10 year chunks, but like, a session of an afternoon or something.

[chrisreilly]

This simulation machine idea, unplugging or staying in based off of what your life is like outside the machine, it reminded me of something and it took a few minutes for me to remember what it reminded me of. It actually reminded me of the guy in the Avatar movie who joined and defended the Navi. Outside his avatar body, he is crippled and his brother is dead. In the avatar body he can walk, found love, and has a familial bond to the tribe. Even if what the humans were doing was not wrong, who's to say he wouldn't stay in his avatar body given the choice?