Timothy Birdnow

I get this; I remember very little from my youth.

In my case it's not just my childhood but my youth; my friends will talk about stuff we did and I will draw a complete blank. Most of the time in fact. But I remember things I read from when I was nine. Go figure.

Medical science has been trying for some time to perfect memory erasing techniques to use on those who have suffered terrible trauma - being raped or seeing a loved one murdered or whatnot. But they can, at best, nuke the memory and not erase targeted parts of it. Should we learn enough about how childhood memories are erased we may be able to simply erase targeted memories.

But we are the sum of our memories; it's the core of our identity. Do we have a right to erase memories, even if they are bad? God gave us those experiences for our ultimate good, even though we suffer from them. Destroying memories is rather like targeted suicide. 

And if we can erase key memories, can we not then control minds by eliminating important memories that shape how we think? The next step would be implanting memories.

I am mindful of an original series Star Trek where the administrator of a hospital for the insane uses a machine to erase memories and implant false ones. He uses it on Kirk. Eventually the villain winds up in his own chair and is emptied out by the machine as it erases everything from his mind.

There are serious ethical questions involved in this. But I can see why some people would want to be able to forget some horrible tragedy. 

Posted by: at September 25, 2026 02:25 AM (51el8)

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