FICTION
What If You Forgot Everything In a Collective Amnesia Every 364 Days?
Can you imagine a life without memories? A new year — a new you! How would it feel to be free from your past? (Interdimensional Talks — Episode 2)
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EPISODE 2:
A society that suffers collective amnesia every 364 days
MIKE: “Welcome back to Interdimensional Talks, folks. I’m your host, Mike. We were saving this episode for just this time of the year. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve been talking to all sorts of fascinating people from alternate universes, and as far as “being out there,” this one is actually relatively tame. They live very similar lives to us, with one big exception.
Every 364 days, they all suffer a catastrophic collective amnesia. When they wake up the next day, they know nothing about who they are, what is happening, and what has transpired in the last year. Talk about a rude awakening, aye?
Anyway, without further ado, allow me to introduce our guest, John Doe, from Earth 242. The Doe part is a joke. Welcome to the show, John.”
JOHN: “Thank you for having me, Mike.”
MIKE: “We’re at that time of the year where we make our New Year resolutions and make all sorts of plans for how we will be better and do better the next year. At least on our Earth. How do you prepare for a new year, John?”
JOHN: “Well, it’s entirely possible that we make similar resolutions. We just can’t remember them, hehe. In actuality, this time of the year is one of intense preparation for the mental cleanse or memory wipe.”
MIKE: “How so? How does one prepare for such an event? I can’t even imagine, to be honest.”
JOHN: “In essence, we try to make sure to carry forward what we’ve learned and what we liked. What we want to keep, so to speak. The bad and uneventful gets washed away, and we have no recollection of it ever again. It’s a time of reflection and meditation.”
MIKE: “How do you determine what you want to remember, and what can you do to restore those memories after a memory wipe out?”
JOHN: “You misunderstand me, Mike. We don’t regain those memories. The amnesia is complete and deletes exactly 364 days of data. There is nothing left to remember.”
MIKE: “So how do you carry forward what you’ve learned, as you say?”
JOHN: “We record videos explaining who we are, what we’ve learned, and what we want to keep. We write things down for our future oblivious selves.”
MIKE: “Such as? Give me a few examples.”
JOHN: “Well, if you’re married, and you want to stay married, it’s not a bad idea to record yourself with your partner, expressing your love, and recounting some pleasant memories and properties about them.”
MIKE: “Holly shit! I hadn’t even thought about that. You forget your loved ones? So you have to fall in love all over again each year?”
JOHN: “Something like that, but it’s easier when you learn that you are great together and hear what they say about you and your relationship. Getting back into rhythm and functioning as a couple doesn’t take much time for most. The first few dates are especially fun!”
MIKE: “I bet! Wow. That’s intense. But what if the other person, without those memories, doesn’t want to continue with the relationship? Or you, for that matter?”
JOHN: “You break up. There are no feelings to get hurt, just arrangements that must be made. Not everyone continues after the cleanse. It’s no big deal. A new start is a new start.”
MIKE: “That makes sense, I suppose. It’s a bit sad, though.”
JOHN: “Why is it sad?”
MIKE: “I mean, you can’t remember the good times you had together and why you love each other. I would imagine a lot of relationships fail after the collective amnesia.”
JOHN: “We have recordings and letters. Not much is lost, even if it’s not stored in your memories. Besides, watching those videos together after the cleanse can be incredibly fun, exhilarating, and comforting. It’s like watching a movie and getting to know yourself all over again.”
MIKE: “At least it’s never boring, right?”
JOHN: “Oh, no. Boring is not even in our vocabulary!”
MIKE: “I bet. How about children? Do you forget your children?”
JOHN: “We forget everything that is stored as memories. Children, parents, siblings, everything!”
MIKE: “Now, that is a scary thought! To forget your own children. Parents, too, I suppose. I can’t even imagine the horror of losing memories of my family.”
JOHN: “It’s not that big of a deal. We all go through it, so we help each other as best we can. I know it seems extreme to you, but it’s completely normal to us.”
MIKE: “If you say so. How does it feel immediately after the memory loss? Describe the sensation to our audience, please.”
JOHN: “I don’t know that I’ll be able to do it justice, but it’s not a bad feeling. Yes, there’s some confusion, and you have to orient yourself a little. That takes some time. Other than that, it feels wonderful. A state of peaceful, blissful ignorance, I suppose.”
MIKE: “What? How?”
JOHN: “When you are free of your memories, attachments, and ideologies, you are like an empty piece of paper. You are absorbing everything with no ill feelings regarding anything. It’s the perfection of being. No name. No identity. No beliefs. You are free, and it feels absolutely amazing.”
MIKE: “Not knowing who you are feels good?”
JOHN: “Absolutely! Your name, family, and history are all baggage you carry. It weighs you down. It is limiting. You think you have to be a certain way because of who you are supposed to be, what you’ve been through, and who your parents were.
Imagine for a moment that you have no identity. You’re not Mike. You’re not a man. You’re not a citizen of your country. You don’t have a religion. You don’t have any bad memories — no loss, pain, or suffering. You’re not attached to anything. Not your job, not your partner, not your beliefs. You are entirely empty and free. Free to be who you want to be. Free to write a new story, any way you like. Free to love who and what you want. Free to start again anew. No limits. No baggage. No history.
It sounds empty, but it is the fullest you can possibly be. You are your true essence. You are who you really are before you label it and attach meaning to your memories and preferences. You are whole, complete, and perfect. Empty, but so full of life and wonder.
You also have no worries, fears, or anxiety. They are all mental phenomena derived from memory. You have no memory, so you have no problems, so to speak. If there were ever a perfect human being, it would be one without any memories, attachments, and beliefs. The primal being behind them all. Even the identity you believe you are.
You can now flow freely, adapting to any new information. All the people you meet are equally empty and perfect. You’re getting to know each other, relying more on intuition and emotions than words. It feels primal and natural.
You’re experiencing all your favorite foods, movies, and music for the first time all over again. You’re falling in love with life, art, and people all over again. It is the best time of the year, Mike. I wish you could try it sometime.”
MIKE: “I’m rendered speechless, and that doesn’t happen so often. I came into this interview expecting to feel sorry for you because of this yearly amnesia, but now you’re trying to convince me that you love it?”
JOHN: “Absolutely! What’s not to love?”
MIKE: “How is not knowing who you are a good thing? Why would that feel good? I’m confused.”
JOHN: “You are now forty-something years old, yes?”
MIKE: “Thereabout, yes.”
JOHN: “So you have forty years of memories, attachments, beliefs, identities, preferences, fears, and habits covering your essence. You don’t know who or what you really are.”
MIKE: “I don’t? That’s funny coming from you, Mr. Amnesia!”
JOHN: “No, you don’t! You believe that this is who you are, Michael. You believe that you are your father’s son. You believe the story of your family’s past. Everything you’ve been through now covers your essence in infinite layers. But they’re not who you are.”
MIKE: “They’re not?”
JOHN: “No. They’re a mask you wear.“
MIKE: “I’m wearing a mask? It doesn’t feel like it. Can you explain further?”
JOHN: “Sure. Imagine that you forgot everything. You’ve lost all memories. Right now. You don’t even know your name, family, or nationality. There is no trace of history. You remember nothing. What is left?”
MIKE: “I am left.”
JOHN: “Exactly!”
MIKE: “Wait, what? I’m still me, even without my memories.”
JOHN: “Who is that?”
MIKE: “Who am I?”
JOHN: “Yes. Who or what is left after you’ve eliminated all your memories, even your name, profession, history, and family? There is nothing attached to that sensation of I am.”
MIKE: “I don’t know. I guess I would still be me.”
JOHN: “No. You would finally be you. The real you. Without all the fake masks and limitations. Imagine walking around with no memories and no identity. Goint to your work, home, walking through the town. How would that feel?”
MIKE: “Scarry. Confusing. Weird. Lonely.”
JOHN: “Why? You wouldn’t know any reason to be afraid of anything or anyone.”
MIKE: “Hm. No fear does sound good.”
JOHN: “No fear, no worries, no desires, no attachments, no preferences, no baggage. Free as a newborn baby looking at the world for the first time.”
MIKE: “I think I understand what you’re aiming at. I guess there are some upsides to an occasional memory wipe. Although I still prefer to keep my memories, thank you very much. Which reminds me, have you ever tried holding onto your memories? Did anyone find a way to retain them past the 364-day mark?”
JOHN: “Many have tried. Some people don’t like letting go of the past and hold on to attachments too firmly. Unfortunately, none have succeeded. Perhaps it’s for the best.”
MIKE: “How does this yearly cleanse influence your technology, development, and science? I would imagine it’s quite an imperative since you would forget everything. How does your society work?”
JOHN: “Perhaps. But we have developed systems that work around the memory loss. We rely a lot on meticulously documenting everything and rely on computers. Besides, not everything is lost as the new year turns over. We don’t forget the skills we’ve learned. Muscles have memories. Once we’ve learned something, it’s easy to re-learn it. You don’t exactly remember how things are done, but you absorb the lost knowledge quickly. But like I’ve said. We’ve built our whole society around the yearly reset, so it doesn’t impede our progress much. If at all. In a few weeks, we’re back to full speed, for the most part. Fully operational. Relationships are a much bigger issue than work, to be honest.”
MIKE: “That I can imagine. Would you want to remember the past? If you had a choice, I mean.”
JOHN: “Me, personally, no. Some would, I believe.”
MIKE: “Why not you?”
JOHN: “I have lived many lives with many wives. I don’t think it would be wise or manageable to remember it all. I can’t even imagine what a mess you must have in your heads on your Earth. All that useless data lingering for eternity. To me, it sounds like hell.”
MIKE: “Can’t argue with you on that. We’re a mess. There is something to the whole identity and beliefs being a problem for the individual and society at large, I suppose.”
JOHN: “I wouldn’t know. Can you give me an example of how it negatively impacts your society?”
MIKE: “Well, you know. Wars between nations, ideological battles, religions, politics…”
JOHN: “I don’t. Not really.”
MIKE: “You don’t have wars and religions?”
JOHN: “No. We argue, don’t get me wrong, but nothing on the scale of what you describe. Life is too precious to lose it, fighting each other. The reset sort of keeps us focused on surviving and just living. Besides, we would forget what the fight was all about come new year, anyway.”
MIKE: “Hehe! That’s another good point. What about religions? Are there many, and what are the predominant beliefs?”
JOHN: “Of course. Humans always need tales and myths to explain the unexplainable. We seem to be like lost children trapped in eternal search of a father figure to guide us and make sense of it all.”
MIKE: “I would imagine stories of old, and religions spawning from them, would have a hard time surviving all those memory resets in your culture.”
JOHN: “Before we could write, that was impossible, indeed. But since we have learned to conserve our memories and beliefs with the written word, myths have followed us through the ages. More as stories and tales, not so much as something obligatory or exceedingly important. It’s just stories we tell ourselves. Mysteries of the universe not meant for us to understand. There’s no way of knowing what is true anyway.”
MIKE: “What is your theory about the reset? What causes it? Or who?”
JOHN: “No one knows for sure. We know what happens to our brains but not what causes it. There are many theories that are only that, theories. Some scientists insist it’s the consequence of a yearly Sun’s activity. Others claim it’s just how our genome is built. Remember, we don’t know any other way of existing. This memory wipe has been happening since the dawn of time. At least as far as we can tell. Then there are the theological ideas: God’s punishment, rebirth, and some such nonsense. I’m a man of science, so I’m not the one to ask. I firmly believe that it’s a good thing that religions are taken so lightly in our society.”
MIKE: “That sounds like a good thing to me as well. From where I stand, all these old ideologies people take so seriously seem to be doing more harm than good. It’s good to have some sort of moral codex, but it wouldn’t hurt to update it occasionally. Not to mention how insane it is to argue and fight over religious beliefs.”
JOHN: “I still can’t believe you do that. Why would one want to hurt another human, just because he believes in some other story from a distant past? Why would your personal beliefs in the unprovable matter so much?”
MIKE: “Your guess is as good as mine, friend. What year is it on your Earth? Since I know you don’t have Christianity, which sort of initiated our modern calendars, what do you use as a starting point?”
JOHN: “We don’t count years. We tried but it was impossible to keep up with. We count days backward until reset, reminding us to enjoy what we have and always remember that time is ticking away.”
MIKE: “I love that. A counter toward the end, instead of counting toward infinity.”
JOHN: “It only makes sense. None of us are going to live eternally. But we will live to the end of this year, hopefully. What’s the point of worrying about the future or the past? The past is not real. It’s just a memory for those who have it, empty words on paper for the rest of us. It means nothing and holds no power over us. The same can be said of the future. When it comes, it will be somebody else’s problem. Even if it’s us that live to see it, it won’t be the same us. Do you know what I mean?”
MIKE: “I think I do. Because you will have forgotten it countless times between now and then. You won’t be the same person anymore.”
JOHN: “Exactly. I’ll let that other new version of me deal with the future. And I let the past die with the old versions of me. Neither has anything to do with me today. I am not them. They are not me.”
MIKE: “We’re delving heavily into philosophy now.”
JOHN: “Philosophy for you, perhaps, Mike. Facts of life for me and my people.”
MIKE: “You’re right. You live this philosophy. No wonder you’re so calm and peaceful. I’m starting to get what you’re trying to tell me.”
JOHN: “I think you might be, indeed.”
MIKE: “Do you have any kids, John? Are you a family man?”
JOHN: “I am this year. I have two beautiful girls. But I can’t be sure I don’t have many more. There could be dozens of little rascals running around there, and I would have no way of knowing if they had decided so. Hell, I could be a grandad, for all I know!”
MIKE: “They can do that?”
JOHN: “Of course. Every year, we decide for ourselves what we want to carry forward. Including our families.”
MIKE: “That sounds wrong somehow.”
JOHN: “When the kids are small, it probably is. Once they grow up, though, they can make whatever decision they like. It doesn’t really matter. You know?”
MIKE: “I don’t. Of course, it matters!”
JOHN: “Why?”
MIKE: “They’re your children. You love them. They love you. It’s…”
JOHN: “You don’t even remember them, Mike. And they don’t remember you. Those attachments you call love are a product of memories. We have none. In a few days, I will completely forget that I am a father, have a wife, and two girls.”
MIKE: “And you’re okay with that?”
JOHN: “No, not this time. They’re still young. They need me, and we have a good thing going on with the wife. We’ve decided to stay together as a family. At least for another year.”
MIKE: “I have a problem processing all of this, John. Your ambivalence seems cruel.”
JOHN: “I understand. I don’t like the idea of forgetting them this year, either. We had some great times, and I have wonderful memories of our time together. But we don’t have a choice. The reset is coming, and the best we can do is stay together and make new memories again.”
MIKE: “Only to forget them all over again next year.”
JOHN: “It is so. A blank page. A new beginning. A new opportunity to make good memories. That’s what life is all about for us, Mike.”
MIKE: “I feel sad for you, friend.”
JOHN: “Don’t. I appreciate the sympathy, though. I will see them again, and even better, I will get to know them all over again. Who they are, what they like, what they sound like. I’ll see their smile for the first time. Feel their hug. It’s a wonderful experience. Like becoming a father all over again. Remember how it felt the first time you met your children?”
MIKE: “After they were born, you mean?”
JOHN: “Yes. Exactly. How did that feel?”
MIKE: “It was the best time of my life. Absolutely wonderful. Magical! Words cannot desire how I felt in that moment.”
JOHN: “So you see, you don’t need to pity me. I get to relieve those special moments every 364 days. Like I said. It’s the best time of the year for me. I got to meet my beautiful wife and discover that she liked me or even loved me. I look forward to getting to know her and every little detail about her again for the first time. Same for my kids. The little girls who I love beyond words. I just know I’ll be a crying mess for a few weeks. I have much to be grateful for this time around.”
MIKE: “That was beautiful. I hadn’t thought of it from that perspective. Thank you for opening up your soul for us.”
JOHN: “You’re welcome. This was a fun talk, Michael. But now I have to get back to the preparations for the reset. We still have to prepare the room and decorate it with our pictures — especially the ones where we’re together. Then we have to write letters to ourselves and our loved ones. We have only a day left to make the videos for our future selves, explaining everything to the best of our ability for the transition to be as painless and smooth as possible for them. We have a lot of work before the new year. So I’ll have to say my goodbye for now.”
MIKE: “Of course. I understand, John. Listen. It was an absolute pleasure getting to know you, and you’ve given me a lot to think about. I wish you and your family the best year yet. I hope that you’ll make even better memories this time around. Be well, John.”
JOHN: “Thank you. You as well. And a happy new year to you, your team, your family, and all the listeners out there.”
MIKE: “Speaking off, do you have any parting advice for everyone listening?”
JOHN: “As the new year comes, make sure to leave all the bad in the past. You don’t need it. Give yourself permission to become a new person this year. The man or woman you aspire to be. Free from the baggage of the past, identities, or history. Choose who you want to be, and become it. A new year, a new you! Goodbye.”
MIKE: “Goodbye, John. Well, that was a fascinating conversation. I loved John’s calm and loving demeanor. I was surprised by how they view this whole memory wipe thing. I thought it was something they feared and resisted — a coming nightmare. Turns out, it’s the opposite. They look forward to it and experience it as a beautiful event. I would never have guessed it. Live and learn, I suppose.
Anyway, I will join John in his wish for the coming new year. Let us all choose what we want to keep and carry through to the new year and discard all the ugly from the year gone by. I’m even tempted to write my future self a letter, and somehow sad I’ll be the one reading it. It’s funny how that works.
Happy New Year, friends!”
THE END
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