What break-up? Drug to erase bad memories could see the end of troubling flashbacks

A memory-cleansing drug that has the ability to remove any recollection of unhappy or embarrassing incidents could be developed by scientists.
Childhood teasing, the unpleasant experience of losing a pet and the upsetting memories of a failed love affair could all be wiped from people's minds.
The possibility of a memory drug for human consumption has been raised following successful animal trials by Andreas Lüthi, of the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Switzerland.

Complete article

Wow, how can they develop something like this but they cannot develop something that is actually memory enhancing?

This also has some very devious implications.... MIB style

So I would assume governments would definately use this after they got done torturing someone, or hey you were not suppose to see that....lets just pop some of this into a drink.... Scary stuff IMHO

-Kdial1

So we are gonna have real life scenario of the movie The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Craaaaazy!

Wow.

I'll take six please. But seriously that would be sort of cool...

I wonder if you could rehabilitate a criminal by erasing his memories, or get even with that smart kid that sat in front of you and passed all his tests....or make a nation of sheep....oh..

Man, memory crimes.

"A Burbank man had his memory erased by a group of rowdy teenagers this afternoon. This makes the third such attack this week. If you know this man, please call 1-800-Flash-Me"

Sinister implications.

reply to post by KSPigpen






1-800-FLASHME

Think of all the disappointed phone calls!

Disclaimer: I'm a theist but not of the Abrahamic faiths. I have minor biblical scholar and scriptural skills. Also I am not a scientific/legal or medical expert in any field. Beware of my Contagious Memes! & watch out that you don't get cut on my Occams razor.All of this is my personal conjecture and should not be considered the absolute or most definitive state of things as they really are. Use this information at your own risk! I accept no liability if your ideology comes crashing down around you with accompanying consequences.

Explanation: It should be banned and people should be forced to live with their mistakes damnit! You go to war and kill people and come home with PTSD and want to wimp out because your a weak spined mind..... Disgusting! The only time I would allow it was for Victims and NEVER for perpetrators.

Personal Disclosure: A chemical mind hole..Whats next...room 101???

This would be a man-made miracle but I doubt any drug taken would be selective about the type of memory it erases. "Oh no, 9/11 WAS done by terrorists. I love my government."

Disclaimer: As above!

Explanation: Do the crime..wipe your mind...get benifits and forget forever and make LEO interrogations impossible.

Personal Disclosure: I can imagine a lawyer saying to the court "Yes that appears to be my client robbing the bank on the video evidence..but regardless of whether he robbed them or not these MRI scans prove he has no knowledge of the crime and therefor you must accquit him.".

reply to post by kdial1


one thing is, though, if the bad memory was very important/influential/early in my life, then I have laid down a whole subsequent set of related/consequences-of memories and choices and tastes deriving from (finding grandma's severed head in my wading pool)

if the memory is completely erased, then there's a vaguely disquieting batch of incompletely-understood life story making little (or even-less-than-usual) sense bits, those deriving from the erased incident...something bad happened, oblivion was preferred to knowledge, that's a disquieting vote-of-no-confidence in the rational mind..."you were weak and knew you'd stay weak", the feeling could be parsed as, to some personalities, not encouraging...

if I remember the incident, and that it was bad, and influential, and it just no longer excites me any more to recall/dwell on it...then now I am who I am because of just some random pointless incident that didn't have to happen and now thanks-to-technology doesn't have to matter much...but it still got stuck to my shoe...I would find this rather depressing, also...to my taste, give me the vivid misery nature+evolution have prepared for me...But I expect that there would be people who would have the other inclination or taste and who would thus want to (and I think should be allowed to, mental freedom and variety, go for it) purchase this product or service...

I actually think it is not so much the content of any bad memory as it is the cognitive/philosophical coping-style that the experiencer brings to bear on said bad memory, that is involved in those cases that are truly debilitating...but that's my hunch or bias and I'm not carrying any proof for it...but I do think it is generally accepted that bad memories wear off and/or hurt less with the passage of time, almost everybody would testify to that in their own life experience, right?

As I recall there was a science fiction story by Damon Knight called "Life Edit" about this exact territory..I have to go somewhere right now but I'll see if I can find a link to it later...

reply to post by OmegaLogos


Blast! you beat me to it...

Someone with complete retrograde amnesia is unable to assist in his/her own defense and therefore charges are not able to be pursued.

So a wicked evil serial killer that makes Chikatilo look like a saint could pop a pill and get off?

I'll be honest. If that becomes the case, I'm sure I won't be the only vigilante wiping out scum who game the system.

But if the criminal is not the same 'person' anymore, having no memories of negatively impacting circumstances or maybe even tendencies, wouldn't this person be rehabilitated? Do you think a predisposition towards crime is genetic and thus not impacted by memory anyway?


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by KSPigpen


I honestly don't know for sure, but most studies that I have read in my Psych and Criminal Justice classes indicate at least some genetic determination for disposition to criminal behaviour. I do not argue that a large part of it is situational, being that someone's life experiences will inevitably influence their actions later on, but the general consensus seems to be that there is a biological factor involved.

Also, how much of the memory will be erased? It seems as if this item is being marketed as being able to erase specific items, meaning that the earlier experiences of life would remain in their memory. I certainly wouldn't want to forget my entire life because a 2 year relationship went south, nor would most people I imagine. Thus, the trigger to criminal action could very well remain in the memory of the criminal, but the crimes would be gone, preventing assistance in their own defense and getting them off the hook, but leaving their mind in such a state as to be prone to repeat offenses.

This obviously applies more to serial offenders than one off offenders, but to be honest, most offenders who get away with their crime of choice do or would go serial/spree, be it burglary, rape, robbery, murder, speeding, etc... it is because of the rush that is felt while committing the act and getting away with it. The feeling of superiority and invincibility, of being smarter or stronger than the opponent.

OK, who are all you people and why are you typing on my screen???? The last thing I remember is......wait what's a memory anywho?? This is pie in the sky BS! The only thing I might consider this for is for victims of sexual assault and extreme trauma of children at a very young age. Even then it would have to be very selective in nature which I doubt they could guarantee! Way to dangerous for the average person!

Zindo

reply to post by nine-eyed-eel



That post of yours is a gem

You're a definite asset to this place

There was a Jim Carrey movie about this. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

It was actually a rather good movie, imho. Not a comedy, but very touching.

Jim Carrey's character is dating a woman. They are polar opposites, but they fell in love at first sight. Sadly, their differences drove a wedge between them after a time. She decided to break up with him and went to a company that specialized in removing painful memories. She had them remove every memory of her ever meeting him or their relationship. He decided to do the same thing because it hurt so bad that she broke up with him.

We get to see inside his memories as the machine is taking them away and he realizes that even though it hurt having her leave him, the memories he had of their time together were precious. He begins to fight the machine in his mind, trying to hide away memories so that he will be able to recall her. Sadly, he fails at this attempt and his memories of her are wiped clean. The movie ends with them once more meeting each other by chance and falling in love again.

reply to post by kdial1


They do make memory enhancers and the like, they are called Nootropics. Some are used to treat disorders while some are general boosters. I read awhile ago about a new breed of nootropics which would be there to enhance a normally functioning individual without as much interference from side effects. To my knowledge there just isn't much longitudinal research on these medications to know how our bodies will ultimately handle them.