Proposal: simulate organisms whose motivation system is based only on gradients of pleasure.
Why use simulation for this idea?
David Pearce has proposed that we could become happier through genetic modification. This assumes that experiences of pain and pleasure are either generated by something physical, or are themselves something physical. The question this simulation tries to answer is what would happen, at the level of behaviour, if only positive experiences existed. For example, can we obtain the same behaviour that we get from a pain–pleasure system?
The simulation is possible in both cases. If pleasure is generated by something physical, and we are interested in the behaviour that this physical thing produces, we can set pleasure aside and focus on what generates it. If pleasure is itself something physical that leads to certain behaviour, then we only need to identify it in order to simulate it.
An example of the first case: the release of cortisol in certain amounts, acting as a neurotransmitter, encourages aggressive behaviour and produces anger. In the second case, the physical process that generates the aggressive behaviour (the release of cortisol and its action) is itself the anger.
This simulation does not try to prove either case. It assumes that one of them is true, and it does not matter which one, because physically the situation is the same in both. Running a simulation requires this assumption: we cannot use simulations to test the relationship between subjective experience and the physical world, nor ideas that do not assume one of the two cases above.
What the simulation consists of
First, we need to identify what the physical expression of pain and pleasure essentially is. For example, pleasure could be an incentive to remain in a situation or to try to reach it, and pain an incentive to try to prevent something from happening or to change a situation.
Once pleasure and pain are defined, we simulate two kinds of organism: organisms driven by gradients of pain and pleasure, and organisms driven only by gradients of pleasure. Both are exposed to different environments.
Interpreting the results
We analyse the differences between the behaviour of the two kinds of organism. This will give us ideas about the nature of a motivation system that does not exist in reality (or that we have not yet identified): one made only of gradients of pleasure. It may also give us relevant information to answer questions such as why pain exists, or whether it is necessary to suffer in order to survive.
Whether a trait is evolutionarily advantageous depends on the environment, and the real world is too complex for us to be sure that a simulation represents all the relevant variables. It will therefore be difficult to predict, from simulation results, how successful organisms driven by pleasure gradients would be in reality.
Even so, a particularly interesting result would be strong evidence that the same behaviour can be achieved with both systems: that an organism that only feels pleasure can behave in the same way as a “classic” organism. If this result is not obtained, it would be interesting to analyse why not.
Extended version, with a simulation design in GaiaBasic: https://gaiabasic.com/project-gradients-of-bliss.html
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