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The impact of psychological research on life's big questions.

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Joshua Knobe is a professor in the philosophy department at UNC-Chapel Hill. See full bio

April 13, 2008,

Comments on "Would You be Willing to Enter the Matrix?"

Would You be Willing to Enter the Matrix?

By Joshua Knobe on April 13, 2008 in Experiments in Philosophy

A new study in experimental philosophy asks whether people would be willing to live a life of illusion. Read More

What was the age group of

Submitted by wes anderson on April 14, 2008 - 11:11am.

What was the age group of the subjects? This is just speculation, but I wonder if the results would change depending on the age group measured. Youth might want to try out that boring tedious life, while older folk might resist change.

Hi: Thanks for your comment!

Submitted by Felipe De Brigard on April 14, 2008 - 12:24pm.

Hi:
Thanks for your comment! Participants were all undergraduates, with ages between 19 and 22. I have yet to test the scenarios with different populations. My feeling is that older folks are going to be more conservative in their choices (i.e. more risk-averse) so their tendency will be to remain connected.
Best,
Felipe De Brigard

A possible problem

Submitted by David Bradley on April 14, 2008 - 5:31pm.

This is really interesting work, with a very plausible hypothesis; there's plenty of evidence out there to show an inertia bias, and it'd be interesting if that effect was present here. One possible problem I see is that the subjects might not have been able to really accept the story De Brigard told about them being in a fantasy machine. If they believe that the machine reality IS reality, then offering them a way out of the machine (and out of reality) would be the same as offering them a chance to step into the machine in the first story.

In the first story, the choice is their current life or a fantasy life of their choosing. In the second, the choice is their current life or an even more boring life (if the above article gives an accurate account of the study). Might that influence the results? I wonder what the result would have been if the second story ended with a return to a (real-world) rock star life.

Again, fascinating study!

Thanks for the comment! This

Submitted by Felipe De Brigard on April 15, 2008 - 10:21am.

Thanks for the comment! This study actually addresses that particular concern. I gave participants three variations on the vignettes. In the negative scenario, they are invited to disconnect and go back to a terrible real life (i.e. their real life was supposed to be that of a prisoner for life). In the positive scenario they were told that their real life was an awesome life (i.e. a billionaire artist). Finally, in the neutral scenario they didn't know anything at all about their real life. In the negative scenario almost 90% preferred to remain connected. In the positive scenario, surprisingly, it was 50-50. In the neutral scenario it was mostly 60% wanting to remain connected, while 40% wanted to disconnect. The thought is that risk-averse people people are going to remain connected versus risk-seekers, who would prefer to disconnect. What is interesting, though, is that reality does not seem to play as big of a role as many would think. Again, thanks for the comment!

what counts as the status quo?

Submitted by jonathan weinberg on April 14, 2008 - 7:02pm.

I wonder what would happen if you gave subjects a scenario in which they have been in the real world up until now, but (perhaps due to some environmental disaster), the world as they have experienced it will no longer be sustainable. They can either choose to remain in the real world, though it will be a hard, boring slog; or they can opt to be put into a Matrix-like situation, that will simulate... their life exactly as they live it now. Do both options count as changes from the status quo? Or does the latter, in some important sense, count as still the status quo?

One thing about the already-living-in-the-Matrix case is that all of your meaningful personal relations would thus be with other Matrix-folk, and one might be reticent to give up those relations. Is it clear in the scenarios whether or not it's a Matrix case like the movie (in which there are other people 'in there' with you), or you-alone-and-everyone-else-is-fake case?

Jonathan: On the first

Submitted by Felipe De Brigard on April 15, 2008 - 10:26am.

Jonathan:
On the first point: I think that's a very interesting suggestion. I have no idea what participants would say in such a case.
On the second point: as a matter of fact, I asked participants to briefly explain their answers and it turns out many gave that particular explanation as a reason to remain connected. Interestingly though, many used it as well in a different study as a reason NOT to plug in to a virtual reality machine. There is something about social relations that seem to play quite a big role in these scenarios, independently of whether they are real relations or just real-to-me relations.
Thanks for the comment!
Felipe

Where can I find the study?

Submitted by David Bradley on April 16, 2008 - 3:55pm.

Thanks for the response, Felipe. Did you assess before (or after) the fact whether or not the subjects were risk-averse or risk-seeking? It seems like a safe assumption that the risk-seekers would be more likely to fall in that 60% that chose to return to their "real" lives in the third (neutral) situation you gave, but it'd be interesting to see just how strong that correlation was.

Has the study been published or made available somewhere? I'd like to read the original, if possible. Then I can answer most of these questions myself :^)

Yours,
David

Slight correction

Submitted by David Bradley on April 17, 2008 - 3:25am.

Er, the 40% who chose to return to their "real" lives. Oops :^)

Feeling Duped

Submitted by BeckyC on April 22, 2008 - 11:07am.

Is there something to be said about feeling fooled? People seem to react negatively to finding out they have been duped. For example, my friend found out that her husband has been cheating on her for many years and concluded that her "whole marriage was a lie. None of it was real.". She asserts that if she had known her reality sooner she could have dealt with it better. Even though the study states that those who opt to go into the machine will have thier memories of reality erased, I wonder if they actually are still influenced by the present understanding of "choosing" to be fooled rather than finding out after the fact that they have been fooled all along.

Where to find the papers

Submitted by Felipe De Brigard on May 10, 2008 - 10:09am.

Here's a link to the experimental philosophy blog, where I just posted a version of the paper, for those who may be interested in learning a bit more about this study.
http://experimentalphilosophy.typepad.com/
Thanks again for all your comments!
Felipe De Brigard

No offense, but this is one

Submitted by Izkata on May 15, 2008 - 7:12pm.

No offense, but this is one of those "Well, duh" results that psychologists get and treat as new and interesting:

In their current life, whether it be real or fake, people have had experiences that they share with others that they observe to be real.

That evil elementary school teacher, an experience you share with the other students in the class. Recess, you probably had a group of friends you ran with. Middle school and high school cliques or math club or video games. Moving to college, meeting new people in the dorms - people have hundreds or thousands of experiences in life that they share with those that also experienced them.

Whether or not the people you've shared those experiences with are real or not, you perceive them as real, having lived life with them. Either entering the illusion or waking from it means throwing away *everything*, and very few are willing to throw away such fulfilling experiences.