How to Erase a Memory | Hacker News Reader

How to Erase a Memory

kurzweilai.net

15 pointsca98am799 comments

Not quite. What this does is reduce the strength of the fear response associated with the memory. So, after administering this to a person, they would still remember the traumatic event, but they would tell you that it wasn't so bad after all.

Therapeutically that's the important part since it will help the person get on with their lives. That's why this discovery could potentially be revolutionary for recovery from PTSD, rape, and even phobia. But it's not the same as 'erasing' the memory, and arguably would be better for therapy.

The hypothesis though, is to remove the emotional part of the memory, which this does seem to be doing a reasonable job of doing it.

Much better than bilateral lesions to the Amygdala!

There are too many movies and works of science fiction that explore this landscape to convince me this is good.

To erase our memories, our fear, and our pain is to erase what makes us human. Yes, there are terrible things that happen to people that we want to be able to help. This is our humanity.

But where do we draw the line? What happens when this technology falls into the wrong hands? I don't like it.

I was actually just thinking of a movie plot. A serial killer tortures his victims, then erases their memory of the experience. From their point of view, they came home, then woke up in bed missing their legs, or covered in horrendous scars, or something.

But so far, that's all it is. Any new scientific breakthrough is terrifying. I think I'm more scared of biological research than I am of this.

One has to wonder the consequences of use. The pros most-likely outweigh the cons for someone literally debilitated by a traumatic event.

But, "fear" was part of our evolution and survival as a species and actually serves positive results as well.

Sure, but evolution isn't exactly perfect. Pain serves a purpose, too, but what good does pain do someone who's in the final stages of dying of an aggressive cancer? Similarly, PTSD evokes emotions unnecessarily. Being afraid of bears because it slashed your leg is good. Jumping when a door slams because too many explosives went off nearby doesn't do you any good.

It might be safer if the fear could be 'erased' without erasing the memory itself. Or even better - if it were possible to reduce the overgeneralization of fear associated with the memory to present non-threatening situations.

Removing memories themselves seems like a dangerous way to deal with fear, and an easily misused technology. Think governments protecting secrets etc.

It might be safer if the fear could be 'erased' without erasing the memory itself.

See my other comment. That is what's going on.

Does this work on the game?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com