Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Memories
Sunday night I saw a show about a pill that can weaken memories. The application of this is to help people out who have just had a traumatic encounter. The Pill makes the memory weaker. You don't lose the memory. It just isn't as strong and therefore harder to remember. This at first glance is a good thing accident and rape victims, and soldiers don't have to have the horrible memories. How many steps is this from memory manipulation. We have to think long and hard before we take a pill that causes our memories to be warped. I understand that it is for people that have been through a horrible experience, but our memories make us who we are if warp our memories into something that they are not then do we become someone else. As I said our memories make us who we are. They link us to our past and we learn from that. That is is a hop and a skip from memory manipulation I promise you that. If a man can change the memories of another person , what kind of power is that. What ever type it is a human being has no right to have that power. If a person is in the way of a strong political orgnization and that person's memories are changed to remove the threat. Then you killed someone you took their life from them. I have said it before we must be weary of things like this. Technology must be regulated. I just don't want to see a world where people who stand up for what is right can be changed in to something that they are not. Our Memories make us who we are. Be careful before you mess with that. Who you are is a fragile grouping of events in your life. Think about it, different memories make you a different person.
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14 comments:
You visited my paintings.
Thanks for the good comments....
I don't see any mention of Post-Modern philosophy in your posts.
Seeing through this veil is not going to be easy with-out it.
"A copy of a copy with no original"
(our government and our families)
The "Panic" theory books from Toronto are very helpful. Easier than Foucault and Derida.
So is Machiavelli(The Prince) and Voltaire(Candide).
Thank,
Rand..........
thank you. unfortunately, much more money than i currently have.
When will mankind ever learn? You can't mess with what God has made!
I have traumatic memories of my own (don't we all) but I would never want them erased- we learn the most powerful lessons through pain.
This entry immediately reminded me of John Locke. He was the philospher who first launched that whole idea that the self is made up of memories. Who we are is who we remember, whether it be others or ourselves.
But what if those memories didn't really happen? You think they did and visualized it happening because someone told you you were there, thus convinsing yourself that you were there because you were in that moment.
I don't know if I'm making any sense, but yeah...John Locke.
Anyway, since you're all into the memory stuff, I suggest you watch "Memento" if you haven't seen it.
It's a pretty good movie. Especially if you like the type of movies that make you think.
Yea Rite!
Losing his memory is like startin a New life...A man doesn't need such pills to forget his Horrible memories, they fade away as time passes!!
moreover it would be tough for his family also, since he won't be able to remember who they are!! and that is something even painful for the family!
Peace & Love
Rajeev
This innovation is a double-edge sword. Put it to good use, maybe you can help the most troubled patients, abuse it and you're playing God.
In a nutshell, this innovation has more negative traits than good. Yes, such innovations must be regulated, since we cannot stop technology from advancing.
Good Post, and by the way....You,ve been tagged....
http://undeniableliberalism.blogspot.com/2006/11/tagged-6-weird-things.html
This is a different twist indeed. However, I think it should be remembered that other things, such as pacemakers could easily be manipulated for the wrong purposes. I take a drug called Dilantin, which affects short term memory in varying degrees. Some days, I can't find my butt with both hands: on others, I'm almost normal.
The call for regulation is legit imo, but regulation will be meaningless unless we have a government that will put teeth in the law, and not just wink at it.
And finally, "old age" does away with the need for that drug. It's called CRS!:)
i'd watch a movie regarding brain washing for people who went throught experiences they dont want to remember. It was a good movie but cant remember the title. Something with eternal sun shine in it. lol
Anyway, perhaps guys have stronger will power not to let the mind rule the heart. But as from my point of view, i think if there was really such a pill, it would be a saviour. ;) Just my 2 cents worth.
i agree that our memories make us who we are. if you have bad memories, that's life. we as a culture try and medicate everything that isn't perfect or happy or nice. that isn't life and you cannot grow as a person without some fear and sadness and grief. do i think that there should be horror? no- no one should have to live through that- but it happens. the vietnam vets have horrible memories and some are still working through them. i have a friend who is rediscovering life and the joy i hear in his emails makes me thankful he didn't have one of those pills. mind control is the last thing i would want to happen. if the government or anyone else controls your thoughts- then that's it. they have successfully taken away any form of resistance.
The whole concept of medically stripping oneself of memory is bizarre. Psychological literature shows that people who have repressed memories work for years to try to understand what it was they experienced that caused them to be dysfunctional in their lives. Remebering is the breakthrough in treatment. While the remembering is painful and/or re-traumatizing, it is also the catalyst for healing by providing an explanation for the etiology of otherwise unhealthy behavior or reactions.
why did you remove my comment?
just the other day - i was overwhelmed by fading memories of my past.
for a moment i really thought that maybe- maybe... i had imagined it all.
i appreciate your point on how our existence as being defined by a collective memory of our past experiences. how fragile -- but there is beauty, faith and hope in such vulnerability.
i'm glad i ran into your blog.
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