Well before the science was understood, humans discovered methods to exploit the pleasure centers of the brain. People from ancient cultures somehow learned which plants led to experiences of euphoria when consumed. Technological advances have rendered plants obsolete. Electrodes can be physically attached to the area of the brain responsible for the perception of pleasure. The term wireheading refers to this currently hypothetical activity. A theoretical society of wireheads would experience ultimate pleasure, but would lack the true depth of the human experience. Wireheading in a general sense describes a practice that generates an excessive amount of pleasure without any deeper value. This conception of pleasure with no substance is the lay definition of hedonism. In normative ethics, the term has a specific definition as a moral theory. This moral theory can be used to analyze the implications of wireheading.
	Morality is concerned with deciding value. This first requires defining what is valuable. These definitions are often found via intrinsic value. Many items in life, such as currency, are only of instrumental value. With no significance on their own, people use these items as means to another end. According to John Stuart Mill, the end of the line is always pleasure. The inherently good qualities of pleasure – also defined as the minimization of pain – makes it of inherent value. Mill qualifies pleasure as the only inherently valuable good by comparison. A truly good trait would be unable to make a given situation worse just by its addition. A trait such as confidence fails this test because adding confidence to a budding but shy serial killer worsens the situation. Pleasure is the only quality whose addition cannot cause harm.  A theory of value has developed in which the single good with intrinsic value is pleasure. This is the moral definition of hedonism.