Edited by author 07-11-2005 05:38 PM
Actually, since we're poking around in our brains anyway, why bother simulating the sensory input of experiences we find pleasurable, when we could bypass all that and go for stimulating the pleasure centers of our brains directly?

I'm reminded of an experiment in which a rat had electrodes implanted in the pleasure centers of its brains. In its cage two paddles were installed - on dispensing food, the other a jolt to the electrodes. The rat starved to death (or was about to anyway, before the lab techs intervened) tapping on that second paddle; Why eat, when eating is just a means to pleasure, if you can invoke pleasure directly?

Could this be an impediment to the singularity? Perhaps any sentient being that can modify its own brain/programming will just be hopelessly hedonistic..