I guess in that case I think what I’m doing is identifying the experience machine objection as being implied by Newton’s flaming lazer sword, which I have far stronger convictions on. For those who reject NFLS, then I guess my argument doesn’t really apply. However, at least I personally was in the category of people who firmly accept NFLS and also had reservations about the experience machine, so I don’t think this implication is trivial.
As for the Andy and Bob situation, I think that objections like that can be similarly dissolved, given an acceptance of NFLS. If Bob has literally absolutely no way of finding out whether his wife and children truly love him, if they act exactly in the way they would if they really did, then I would argue that whether or not they “really” love him is equally irrelevant by NFLS. Our intuitions in this case are guided by the fact that in reality, Potemkin villages almost always eventually fall apart.
I guess in that case I think what I’m doing is identifying the experience machine objection as being implied by Newton’s flaming lazer sword, which I have far stronger convictions on. For those who reject NFLS, then I guess my argument doesn’t really apply. However, at least I personally was in the category of people who firmly accept NFLS and also had reservations about the experience machine, so I don’t think this implication is trivial.
As for the Andy and Bob situation, I think that objections like that can be similarly dissolved, given an acceptance of NFLS. If Bob has literally absolutely no way of finding out whether his wife and children truly love him, if they act exactly in the way they would if they really did, then I would argue that whether or not they “really” love him is equally irrelevant by NFLS. Our intuitions in this case are guided by the fact that in reality, Potemkin villages almost always eventually fall apart.