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''NO FEAR OF
REMORSE AND HUMILIATION''
So if people's personalities are the aggregation of their realities -and if reality is just an aggregation of memories- it can be argued that propranolol is a drug that makes people lives artificially smaller. This makes certain kinds of people very very nervous -especially those at the policy level on Bioethics.
REMORSE AND HUMILIATION''
People take to drinks and drugs in order not to care about things. People watch escapist movies to distract themselves from the stress of real life. Most significantly, we all distort the emotive meaning of our own past, usually without even trying; that's what ''nostalgia'' is. So, let's assume that propranolol was abused to the highest possible degree; let's assume that people started taking propranolol to edit every arbitrary memory that contain any fraction of mental discomfort.
Ideologically, this would almost certainly be bad for the health of the world. But I still don't think that it is something we could ethically stop people from doing.
The risk, I suppose, is that average people might behave differently if they ha no fear of remorse and humiliation; instead of thinking, I will regret this in the morning, they might think, I better remember to make myself forget this in the morning.
Few things have been worse for the society than the ''cultural evolution away from personal responsibility'' ; I have no doubt that the world would be better off if more people felt guiltier about more things.
But, but that sentiment is only my reality, and it's a specific reality that I have created.
The truth is that Drugs like propranolol probably are ''undermining our true identity.''
But, but I am pretty pretty sure that's precisely what a lot of people want. Oh, Dear! Some world, that!
Respectful dedication for the struggle of Equanimity and Justice in the World!
Many thanks to !WOW!
Good Night & God Bless!
SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless
Great article, but we are still a long way away from being able to edit and erase personal memories using technology. Propranolol cannot be used to erase memories btw. Watch 'The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' to get an idea of what a world like that would be like.
ReplyDeleteIf I had the chance to erase specific memories, I would delete entire months and years. Read about PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). It can a horrible thing for people who have undergone some genuine traumas. They are people who stop living after the traumatic event. It is a fine principle to try to adjust to every experience, assimilate every memory, to stay human. But for someone who witnessed or experienced something horrible at a young age or as an adult, life becomes a permanent hell.
I agree though, that there is a risk that people might become careless, start taking their memories for granted and end up deleting every single uncomfortable memory, which would make them little better then zombies. But the choice should be there, to delete or not to delete.