In this blog post, taking the premise of the film ‘The Matrix’ as our starting point, we will establish a few premises and explore the question of which life we would choose between reality and a virtual reality that is indistinguishable from it.

Setting the Scene — The Matrix Dilemma

Let us recall Neo’s situation in the film. It is the scene where Morpheus offers him a pill that allows him to live in reality and another that allows him to live in virtual reality. The backdrop of the film is grim. Due to environmental destruction, Earth has become a place where survival is nearly impossible, and machines have imprisoned people within a virtual reality called ‘the Matrix’ to use them as a source of energy. Those humans remaining in reality live in a state of starvation and fear, never knowing when they might be eliminated by the machines. Conversely, those within the Matrix are completely unaware that they are trapped in a virtual world and lead daily lives not dissimilar to our own.
Under such conditions, many people might choose a virtual reality like the Matrix. This is because, at least within the virtual world, humans are not farmed by machines or tormented by terrible fear. So, if we were faced with such a choice in the real world, what would we choose? To clarify the discussion, we make the following assumptions.

Premises of the Choice

1) At the time of making the choice, one knows everything about the virtual reality.
2) After making the choice, one forgets the memories of the moment of choice. In other words, upon waking up one day, one cannot tell whether one is in reality or in virtual reality.
3) The other world has no physical or environmental impact on me. (e.g. physical hunger, natural disasters, etc., occur only within that world.)
4) The level of realism in the virtual reality is equivalent to that of the real world.
5) The virtual reality referred to here is a single shared reality to which multiple people connect simultaneously.
These premises have been established to ensure the fairness of the choice and to maintain the focus of the discussion. Premise 1) assumes that, as the characteristics of the virtual reality are largely determined by the creator’s intentions, one must know its contents in advance; premises 2) and 3) are intended to prevent the simultaneous recognition of two different realities after the choice has been made. Point 4) is a condition that must naturally be assumed when considering virtual reality, whilst point 5) is intended to limit the scope of the virtual world to a range where realistic benefits can actually occur, rather than it remaining merely a personalised fantasy.

Reasons for Choosing Virtual Reality

If the above premises hold true, I would choose a life in virtual reality. This is because, even if living the same life, it is appealing to be able to achieve in virtual reality what one could not achieve in reality, or what is impossible in reality. A person who was poor could live as a wealthy person, and a lifelong unrequited love could be fulfilled in the virtual world. It is also possible to live a healthy life for one’s entire life or to enjoy a life that overcomes the physical limitations one has in reality.
Many people dismiss virtual reality as a ‘manufactured world’ and regard it as having less value than reality. They argue that experiences and achievements in a manufactured world are hollow and lack real-world significance. Let us examine this logic by dividing it into material and mental aspects.

Material Perception and the Problem of ‘Reality’

We perceive everything through our senses. Signals received by the five senses are processed by the brain and lead to ‘experience’. People with damaged sensory nerves cannot feel external stimuli, even when they are present; conversely, if the brain interprets specific stimuli differently through hypnosis or illusion, they react as if it were real. In other words, what we perceive is not the sensation itself, but how the sensory stimulus is interpreted by the brain.
If virtual reality induces perception in the same way as reality through stimuli transmitted directly to the brain, there is no way to distinguish that experience from reality. If the experience of seeing and eating an apple in reality is subjectively identical to the experience of seeing and eating an apple in virtual reality—based solely on brain stimulation—we accept that experience as reality. Therefore, even if an experience is artificially created, as long as we are unaware of this, our material experience functions as ‘reality’.

Psychological Value: The Case of Love

Love is a prime example of psychological value. Just because someone in virtual reality is programmed to behave as if they are in love, we cannot presume that the subjective experience of the person feeling that love is in any way less valuable. According to Premise 2), if we were to live without knowing we were in virtual reality, we would not be aware that the object before our eyes is a programme.
Let us imagine a situation in reality where the person I love is actually only pretending to love me. The love I feel, unaware of that fact, comes across to me as a genuine emotion. Ultimately, the argument that ‘it has no meaning because it is fabricated’ is only valid from an omniscient perspective; from the perspective of an individual unaware of this fact, those emotions and experiences are accepted as genuine.

Conclusion: Criteria for Choice and Personal Judgement

In summary, whilst virtual reality is ‘fabricated’ from the perspective of an external observer, if the individual living within it is unaware of this, the experience holds equal value to reality. Since ‘I’ am the one living life and making choices, the criteria for judgement ultimately lie not with others but with my own values.
Some people will reject virtual reality simply because it is artificial. Conversely, there are those, like myself, who would choose virtual reality if the experiences and achievements enjoyed within it offer benefits that cannot be obtained in reality. The key question is ‘Are you aware that it is artificial?’ If you are unaware of this fact, or if the benefits outweigh this awareness, choosing virtual reality may be a rational decision.
Ultimately, which path to choose depends on one’s personal priorities and values. Rather than giving up what I cannot obtain in order to preserve the ‘real’, I would choose the quality of life that can be gained through the ‘fake’.