Why virtual reality cannot match the real thing
Suppose you were offered the opportunity to hook yourself up to a machine that would give you all the experiences you desire. Using this technology you could have the sensations of climbing Mt Everest, enjoying great sex with a good looking partner or visiting the Taj Mahal. The philosopher Robert Nozick used the idea of an “experience machine” to refute the view that good experiences are all we want from life. He thought that most of us would choose not to hook ourselves up to the machine. He assumed that we prefer reality. “But why?” he encouraged us to ask. Nozick’s experience machine existed only in his imagination. ….[READ]
LAVREB Laboratory of Virtual Reality and Economic Behavior 