NationStates Jolt Archive

I've asked this question to a small group of people, but I thought I would throw it out there and see how people respond. It was a question raised in my philosophy class.

There is a box that can provide any kind of pleasure you can ever think of for you mentally. You basically would sit in the box with your body hooked up to it, and it would send pleasure signals to you, telling your brain you're feeling it. You wouldn't be exercising; you wouldn't even be moving. You'd just sit there and feeling pleasure. After a couple of days in there, people will hook you up to breathing/drinking/eating machines to keep you alive. But here's the catch: nobody who has chosen to go into the pleasure box has ever wanted to come out.

So, would you go in?

(poll coming)

This is VERY tricky...

One one hand I will have endless pleasure for as long as I live...on the other hand I will be at the mercy of machines that could fail at any time, and eventually my mind will go...

Hmmm...

I wouldn't go in. While it would be tempting, in the end I would much rather have the benefit of RL social interaction.

Very tempting indeed, but I'm not sure I would do it.

See, there's the problem. You know you'd go in without a thought if you could come out a couple of hours later. But does the world offer you enough to stop you from spending your entire life in a box?

Btw, the box has uber good technology that will not fail, and there is a team of maintenance people watching over the box in case it starts to crash.

Hello no, Emperor forbid!

That sounds like one of those dreaded Slaanesh pleasure boxes:

His servants see technology as the pinnacle of all pleasurable, often these servants become one with technological, becoming cyborgs of the truest sense of the word. Also often these servants form the human mind coexisting with daemons within machines.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/GermanNightmare/slaanesh.gif
They are often also seen in the weapon forges, imbuing technological items with essense of their god and merging their essense with their god. Often found in the divine unity of man and machine being, the Dreadnoughts of the Cult, being a permanent amalgation of flesh and iron, mortal soul and divine influence.


Say no to Slaanesh! Forget about the box...

See, there's the problem. You know you'd go in without a thought if you could come out a couple of hours later. But does the world offer you enough to stop you from spending your entire life in a box?

Btw, the box has uber good technology that will not fail, and there is a team of maintenance people watching over the box in case it starts to crash.

I get much more out of the world than just pleasurable sensations, so I'll stay out of the pleasure box, thank you.

I want to say no, but I also want to let the world know that I am a cupcake.

Man, I am in a pickle!

No.
Giving up life to go live in a box, never achieving anything, never experiencing anything and never meeting anyone is not my cup of tea. To me, the box might as well be a coffin.

I get much more out of the world than just pleasurable sensations, so I'll stay out of the pleasure box, thank you.
But what if it can give you happiness? Then would you go in?

But what if it can give you happiness? Then would you go in?

No, not even if it could make me happy.

Part of it is the fact that I'd be in a box. Four walls, a ceiling, a floor. Nothing there but me and whatever it is that makes me happy. A closed existence, away from family, friends, and everything else. It would be too much like a prison for me. Sure, I'd be happy, but it would be very hollow and empty.

Another part is that I want to do much more in life than just be happy. There's a lot I want to learn and understand and experience, the good and the bad. Maybe once I've done all that, I'll take a few days in the pleasure box, but a life feeling nothing but happiness just sounds incredibly bland to me.

No box can give true happiness. Just a very addicting illusion of it. I don't think I'd go in, but I'll admit I'd be tempted.

I've asked this question to a small group of people, but I thought I would throw it out there and see how people respond. It was a question raised in my philosophy class.

There is a box that can provide any kind of pleasure you can ever think of for you mentally. You basically would sit in the box with your body hooked up to it, and it would send pleasure signals to you, telling your brain you're feeling it. You wouldn't be exercising; you wouldn't even be moving. You'd just sit there and feeling pleasure. After a couple of days in there, people will hook you up to breathing/drinking/eating machines to keep you alive. But here's the catch: nobody who has chosen to go into the pleasure box has ever wanted to come out.

So, would you go in?

(poll coming)very difficult to say. while I do incline towards no, I know alot of people would think, I can get out anytime I want to.

I probably won't because it sounds too much like an addiction.

I am a cupcake.

But as to the pleasure box, after a while, good ceases to be good if there is nothing to which you can compare it. I am happy experiencing the world, and know that an occasional sadness is required to throw the happiness into sharper relief, like putting salt in the cookies to give the sugar something to work against.

this situation reminds me why I don't like Star Trek: Next Generation. imagine, Replicators that can produce any type of food you want. Neuro downloaders that can implant knowledge right into your brain, and holodecks that can produce any environment and sitation you desire.

why live to "better yourself" when you can become a God with a flip of the switch.

Nope. As soon as I fully understood the situation, I'd say NO. Wouldn't a take a moment to deicde.

The ideas behind this kind of remind of the "Free Will - Systems Approach" thread, as the person in the box becomes a slave to his/her biological functions.

Yeah, I'd go in the box. Cause fuck "personal growth" type shit. I feel no need for that brand of bullshit.

Also, howevwer, can the box simulate say...intellectual pleasure? Cause I often derive much pleasure from a heated debate, or just bullshitting about everything with a good friend, particularly when I am mad baked.

And, I know this is a strech, but can it simulate, say...an acid trip? I suppose I would call it more "Mad fucking fun as hell" than pleasurable, but I thought I might try for it.

Yeah, I'd go in the box. Cause fuck "personal growth" type shit. I feel no need for that brand of bullshit.

Also, howevwer, can the box simulate say...intellectual pleasure? Cause I often derive much pleasure from a heated debate, or just bullshitting about everything with a good friend, particularly when I am mad baked.

And, I know this is a strech, but can it simulate, say...an acid trip? I suppose I would call it more "Mad fucking fun as hell" than pleasurable, but I thought I might try for it.

Damn right! I'd go for it if that was the case. Heaven in a box...:)
Might as well experience it now because I'm going straight down when I die.

I'd do it the day I retire... till then, I'd wanna live my life as everyone else does (AKA, crappily) Then the box would make everything good till the day I die.

I would indeed go in. After I have had the time of my life, spent all my money and sadi good bye to everyone.

I remember this question! If you want my answer.. I'll let you look for it *you-know-where* :)

No, I've been addicted to many things in my life; a pleasure box, although sounding quite appealing, is not another thing I'd like to add to that list.

No, I want to actually live my life, not have it lived for me.

Yes. I voted no, but I really would.

as there is no gratification without creating and exploring i would probably want to explore it. actualy i'd want to know everything there is to know about the tecnologies involved. this would entertain me more then it's entertainment value intrinsicly.

since people in this condition wouldn't be moving arround taking up more space then the box itself it might be a way to keep people out of trouble if the rest of society could actualy afford it. they certainly wouldn't be going arround beating each other over the head either. i'm all for that too.

really depends on whether or not it could give me a believable experience of creating and exploring. if all it could give me were a generic sense of pleasure i'd be among the first to get bored with it and actualy come back out of it.

and i'm sure lots of other people would for various reasons of their own.

you SAY people in there would actualy be fed and kept alive; but would they? and for how long?

i would indeed of course be suspicious and want to know who was getting what out of it.

all this before ever stepping into the silly thing.

cars, computers, and recreationaly consumed neurotropic substances are all of course partial parallels.

i deffinately would prefer a room with a replicator i could program myself, in a cave out in the boonies somewhere. and no locked doors either.

i'm really wondering, is this a toy for rich people who could afford to buy one or buy the service? something for everyone? a way to keep convicted criminals off the streets?

if it's either of the latter two i'm real curious about the real economics of it.

if it was available to everyone and it was safe, i wounder what kind of a world the people who didn't go in the box would make.

i wouldn't mind going into one when i got too old to do anything other then wait to die. i think something like that would be a great way to spend my final hours and days alone, which is indeed how i would prefer to spend them.

would i go in it? after, and only after thoroughly exploring to the fullest extent of my ability all of the real risks and pitfalls, then yes. although i might hold off untill my age was within a decade of as long as i could reasonably expect to live anyway.

=^^=
.../\...

Heroin gives intense pleasure. LSD and Canabis interfere with the perception of time. If only we could combine the effects in just the right way we could experience intense pleasure forever!

Actually no, I wouldn't go in the pleasurebox. Not that it isn't the sensible thing to do, it's just that I'm not that sensible. In a way I'm addicted to pain. If I was dying and had a choice between a few painful lucid days and a few days off my face on smack, I'd chose the painful days because there would be stuff I'd want to get done before I died. Of course if the pain becomes too great and I get my stuff done, gimmie da smack!

Once you became desensitized to the pleasure, which you assuredly would, it would be like endless apathy.

I honestly don't know, but knowing me, I guess I'd go in there at some point. I'm a hopeless escapist, if there is any way to avoid the pain of real life, I'm very likely to try it.

I wouldn't right now, but if you had asked me last week, I wouldn't even have thought twice about it, I'd just have asked for the needle.

Nothing beats sex. Real sex.

this situation reminds me why I don't like Star Trek: Next Generation. imagine, Replicators that can produce any type of food you want. Neuro downloaders that can implant knowledge right into your brain, and holodecks that can produce any environment and sitation you desire.

why live to "better yourself" when you can become a God with a flip of the switch.

Because Humans in the Trek era aren't the self-centred bastards they are today.

Regarding the original question: Tempting, but no. I'd miss my family and friends, for one thing. And my work, believe it or not. (Some people find the concept of working for any reason other than money hard to grasp, but I don't care about earning more than I actually need. I'm a teacher, I get a decent enough salary, I'm sure to remain employed until retirement, and my job is actually interesting. Even if I do complain about it sometimes.)

Would I go to the Pleasure Box?

YES.

FUCK Yes.

Mmm pleasure box:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/4762941.stm

Yeah, why not?
If you decide that "real" life is better you can come out.
If you decide the box is better, as all the previous users apparently have, you're making the best use of your time.

If you don't go in you'll never know...

To me its the same question as, "Would you try heroine?"

NO.

To me its the same question as, "Would you try heroine?"

NO.
I personally try every heroine who will let me ;)
As far as the box, well, isn't NS General the first step to that end? Hmmm. . .

yes

I've asked this question to a small group of people, but I thought I would throw it out there and see how people respond. It was a question raised in my philosophy class.

There is a box that can provide any kind of pleasure you can ever think of for you mentally. You basically would sit in the box with your body hooked up to it, and it would send pleasure signals to you, telling your brain you're feeling it. You wouldn't be exercising; you wouldn't even be moving. You'd just sit there and feeling pleasure. After a couple of days in there, people will hook you up to breathing/drinking/eating machines to keep you alive. But here's the catch: nobody who has chosen to go into the pleasure box has ever wanted to come out.

So, would you go in?

(poll coming)

If there is no mechanism that means one MUST stay in... and no horrendous secret side-effects... then yes, I'd probably give it a few minutes each day.

Pleasure is not the only thing I live for, but I'm pretty sure I'd be less stressed/jaded, if I had an absolute release available in bitesize pieces.

I would reply 'No', I wouldn't go into the pleasure box, because it wouldn't be my pleasure I would be feeling.

why would you want to come out if you can live in complete pleasure. i think it is human nature to seek pleasure and many people get pleasure in many different ways. so if you can do nothing to recieve all this pleasure that is unlike anything you can experince in the world.

hell yes i would go in the box

Suffering edifies us. Without suffering I cannot be built up. Plus, if I didn't want to come out, I would be rejecting God's commands so...

But that would be the only reason I wouldn't go: it's very tempting.

I wouldn't go in. While it would be tempting, in the end I would much rather have the benefit of RL social interaction.

just becuz your parents tell you this is REAL life duzn't mean it is:rolleyes:

to me it's an even chance that box is real life, so i'd have to go for it because of the life time of bliss element to it:D

My ego would not allow me to ignore the challenge presented by the machine.
I would be forced to prove I could walk away whenever I wanted.....I would risk it.
With out a doubt I would go in.

Suffering edifies us. Without suffering I cannot be built up. Plus, if I didn't want to come out, I would be rejecting God's commands so...

But that would be the only reason I wouldn't go: it's very tempting.
How is being in a state of bliss rejecting God?



I see nothing sinful in a box that stimulates the brain....which is all this thing does.

No. Too much I want to do with my life and people I care about and want to be with.

I would, and I would break it.

A tempting offer, but no. Although I could theoretically leave, I probably wouldn't--nobody has returned, and I'm no better at breaking an addiction than anyone else is. Even if someone pulled me out of the box, life would feel incredibly bland and all my motivation would disappear. I have a great life--I wouldn't want to just throw it away. And I hate the idea of being absolutely dependent on somebody else.

However, if I had nothing left to achieve or try, nobody I cared about, and generally a bad life, I would do it. By then, I would be really old and most likely already highly dependent on others.

Good to know the cupcake category finally got some votes. *nods* I was beginning to think you people hate cupcakes.

Sounds like one of the most fiendish hells ever devised. Let's see: you go into a box and experience intense pleasure knowing 1) this is as good as it gets and 2)leaving the box will only make it worse. Kinda sounds like heroin.

No thanks. I'll go through today knowing that even if today isn't all that good, tomorrow can be better.

I've asked this question to a small group of people, but I thought I would throw it out there and see how people respond. It was a question raised in my philosophy class.

There is a box that can provide any kind of pleasure you can ever think of for you mentally. You basically would sit in the box with your body hooked up to it, and it would send pleasure signals to you, telling your brain you're feeling it. You wouldn't be exercising; you wouldn't even be moving. You'd just sit there and feeling pleasure. After a couple of days in there, people will hook you up to breathing/drinking/eating machines to keep you alive. But here's the catch: nobody who has chosen to go into the pleasure box has ever wanted to come out.

So, would you go in?

(poll coming)
We already have a pleasure box. It's called heroin. I choose no.

True happiness come from accepting challenges and overcoming them. True pleasure is based in achievements, not just brain massage. No way I'd go inside that daemonic machine

How is being in a state of bliss rejecting God?



I see nothing sinful in a box that stimulates the brain....which is all this thing does.

"Go forth and make disciples of all nations..."

If I willingly put myself into a position where I know I will not want to obey God's commands, I am saying that my personal pleasure is more important than He is. Because I come before Him.

...I am saying that my personal pleasure is more important than He is. Because I come before Him.

Not if you are a considerate lover...

Not if you are a considerate lover...

What?

Yeah I'd go, provided I could control the different types of high/pleasure I would recieve and the amplitude of each. If I couldn't, I'd probably do it anyway.

mmmm... pleasure box. I want one!

I've asked this question to a small group of people, but I thought I would throw it out there and see how people respond. It was a question raised in my philosophy class.

There is a box that can provide any kind of pleasure you can ever think of for you mentally. You basically would sit in the box with your body hooked up to it, and it would send pleasure signals to you, telling your brain you're feeling it. You wouldn't be exercising; you wouldn't even be moving. You'd just sit there and feeling pleasure. After a couple of days in there, people will hook you up to breathing/drinking/eating machines to keep you alive. But here's the catch: nobody who has chosen to go into the pleasure box has ever wanted to come out.

So, would you go in?

(poll coming)
Dame, what's the deal with the poll options?
You missed two ....
Myrth
Spamalanche
;)


I voted no.
I'm biased in a lot of ways, but i'm quite aware of things ending, no matter how much delusion i may feast upon before that inevitability.



I may or may not have lied about something on this post.

Sure Id go in! My best days are behind me anyway. Id rather go into the Happy machine or the Satisfied machine but since Im only offered the Pleasure machine I wont make waves.

There is a box that can provide any kind of pleasure you can ever think of ...
(poll coming)


Oh dear God, she's at it again.

Last time me and Ladamesansmerci spoke/wrote, she was fantasising about tricking random men into her home, chaining up their genitals and then cutting them out of the metal-codpiece with a chainsaw!

I tell ya, this woman needs to get off the computer and get some girlfriends in the real world! That, and go see a sex-therapist/psychologist to cure her of her obviously deviant urges :p

Dame, what's the deal with the poll options?
You missed two ....
Myrth
Spamalanche
;)
:D

You just gave me an idea. From now on, every poll I make will have the "spamalanche" option on it. Thank you. :)

Oh dear God, she's at it again.

Last time me and Ladamesansmerci spoke/wrote, she was fantasising about tricking random men into her home, chaining up their genitals and then cutting them out of the metal-codpiece with a chainsaw!

I tell ya, this woman needs to get off the computer and get some girlfriends in the real world! That, and go see a sex-therapist/psychologist to cure her of her obviously deviant urges :p
Moi? Deviant urges? NEVER! :p

ok, so it's sending to me whatever i think is pleasurable? which would mean a lot of differents things. if i could be in a box that sends pleasurable mental images and feelings into my head, and do this all day, then hell yeah i'd go into it.

if i found a video game to be pleasurable, then it's going to send that into my head, and i'll be playing it all day. if i wanted the feeling of a lost love, to know remember her touch. if i find the sun pleasurable, or the wind and sounds and such, then it's all going to be happening realistically in my head. and it's all non-stop.

why would you not want in this box?

His servants see technology as the pinnacle of all pleasurable, often these servants become one with technological, becoming cyborgs of the truest sense of the word. Also often these servants form the human mind coexisting with daemons within machines.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/GermanNightmare/slaanesh.gif
They are often also seen in the weapon forges, imbuing technological items with essense of their god and merging their essense with their god. Often found in the divine unity of man and machine being, the Dreadnoughts of the Cult, being a permanent amalgation of flesh and iron, mortal soul and divine influence.


These guys sound like my kind of people. Except for the god part. Still, where do I sign up?

As far as the actual topic goes, my answer is definitely no. Such an existence is demonstrably unreal from an objective global reference frame - by any standard, it is unequivocally an illusion, a false dream that traps you by artificial stimulation of your primitive pleasure centers. You become the slave of your base responses, and exist within a pleasant delusion with no purpose, no meaning, no truth, and no achievement. Why exist so? Don't confuse 'pleasure' with 'happiness'; the two are not one and the same, and such self-degrading saturation in the one in truth precludes the other. You gain nothing from such a situation; you only lose from it in that you are enthralled by your lower brain stem, at the expense of your mind and life. An object that could provide quick bursts or limited periods of pleasure would be one thing - that is controlled, and could overall enhance your happiness. But this 'box' is the destruction of the self, and of all that is happy, purposeful, meaningful, and fulfilling.

:D

You just gave me an idea. From now on, every poll I make will have the "spamalanche" option on it. Thank you. :)
Hey, don't thank me, thank JuNii. *nods*

If ANYONE's polls merited it, i'm pretty sure yours fit the bill. :)

[QUOTE=Free Mercantile States]As far as the actual topic goes, my answer is definitely no. Such an existence is demonstrably unreal from an objective global reference frame - by any standard, it is unequivocally an illusion, a false dream that traps you by artificial stimulation of your primitive pleasure centers. You become the slave of your base responses, and exist within a pleasant delusion with no purpose, no meaning, no truth, and no achievement... etc etc[QUOTE]

Who says that life itself, or what we experience as life isn't already an illusion? After all, none of us can experience the universe as it is in its basest forms, all of our experiences are tainted because we can only percieve through our rather limited sensory perceptions. Maybe the real truth, the real higher purpose is to free ourselves to seek lives of pure pleasure or happiness? It could be that there is no higher truth or purpose, and so what is wrong with wanting to experience pleasure?

Call me a hedonist, but I'll take the pleasure. At least that way I can get all the pleasure I want with none of the risk of pregnancy. ;)

Sounds like a thirdhand description of heroin I heard once, only an even higher certainty of addiction. So no.

We already have a pleasure box. It's called heroin. I choose no.
Someone seems to be overestimating the effects of heroin. Crash is baaaaaad.

These guys sound like my kind of people. Except for the god part. Still, where do I sign up?

As far as the actual topic goes, my answer is definitely no. Such an existence is demonstrably unreal from an objective global reference frame - by any standard, it is unequivocally an illusion, a false dream that traps you by artificial stimulation of your primitive pleasure centers. You become the slave of your base responses, and exist within a pleasant delusion with no purpose, no meaning, no truth, and no achievement. Why exist so? Don't confuse 'pleasure' with 'happiness'; the two are not one and the same, and such self-degrading saturation in the one in truth precludes the other. You gain nothing from such a situation; you only lose from it in that you are enthralled by your lower brain stem, at the expense of your mind and life. An object that could provide quick bursts or limited periods of pleasure would be one thing - that is controlled, and could overall enhance your happiness. But this 'box' is the destruction of the self, and of all that is happy, purposeful, meaningful, and fulfilling.

Eloquent response, but isn't all that purposeful, meaningful stuff just stuff we made up?

Yeah, why not.

Moi? Deviant urges? NEVER! :p

Yeah yeah yeah, tell it to the judge. 'Cos with your filthy little mind, you definitely will be arrested and hauled before the magistrates one day!:D

Basically the scenario is The Matrix deciding to advertise itself as World of Warcraft: The Ultimate Experience.

So no :D

Basically the scenario is The Matrix deciding to advertise itself as World of Warcraft: The Ultimate Experience.

So no :D
0o

That's a better scenario than the one we're given.

The problem with the pleasure box, as I see it, is it causes an eventual diminished consciousness. In a state of ecstasy, we become mindless vegetables, and I certainly don't want that.

On the other hand, if we're talking about a moderately enjoyable experience in which we retain consciousness, can communicate with others who have likewise and have our biological functions naturally fulfilled (possibly even put to use for those who didn't do likewise a-la matrix power generators) then I might just go ahead with it.

Then again, the final decision all boils down to whether or not I trust the people who make the machine. For all I know, it could just be some guy who claims it's the machine of ultimate pleasure then kills us, swipes our bodies for his own nefarious purposes and say that we're not coming out due to the immense pleasure we're having. Nobody would know otherwise.