The spotless mind... or a dangerous weapon
I saw this article today and was absolutely terrified. Scientists are working on deleting memories.
First of all I have a lot of bad memories of bad things that have happened in my life but I don't want them gone they are part of who I have become. I understand why some people would rather forget traumas, but where does it end. Can you trust anyone to go mucking around in your brain changing the facts of your life.
Is this another example of the post truth society. The only thing that ties us to our past selves is our memory. without this tether or if the memories are altered isn't it possible to control the population. Imagine a world where every copy of Winnie the Pooh was destroyed and any memory was wiped from the population. I don't want to live in a world without Pooh.
I think the good news is that this is a long way off however what if "they" can erase a book you read or add false memories. I might be a bit paranoid, but I like that my thoughts and memories are my own and I control what goes in and out of my mind.
Imagine a world where a child is made to forget that painful memory when s/he stuck a finger into a candle flame.
No longer is the child afraid of fire but a number of other fears based upon association with the pain of that event also fade to obscurity.
The potential result? A person who takes reckless risks without sufficient thought to his or her safety.
That is bad enough - but I do think that an agency like the CIA will take to it as enthusiastically as the Men in Black to the Neuralizer. This could lead to a string of human rights abuses that people will never hear of... its 'forgotten'.