Erasing Joyful Memories
It’s not as crazy as it sounds
“James! I can’t believe it’s you! It’s been so long, man.”
James, holding a glass of red wine, turned to see his old friend Brad striding toward him with a big grin. They embraced as the DJ was playing I’m Just Gonna Be with You in the background.
“Brad, hey! It’s great to see you. You’re looking…fit.”
Brad laughed. “You know me, always trying out the latest bio-hacks.”
“I know! Are you still taking the dopamine stimulator?”
“Oh, that’s ancient man. Now I am onto the latest cutting-edge stuff. Stuff like TME.”
“What’s that? Another brain hack?”
“Targeted Memory Erasure,” Brad said in a hushed tone. “It lets you permanently delete specific memories and experiences. Like a biological hard drive wipe, but selectively erasing just the files you don’t want.”
“That’s…crazy. And extremely dangerous, no?”
Brad waved a hand dismissively. “Not at all, not with the ethical protocols they’ve developed. You simply take an infrared mind-mapping to isolate the memory engrams. Then a precision laser zaps those engrams in the hippocampal area. You should give it a try.”
“Me…I am not sure,” James said hesitantly. “But it sounds interesting. Maybe I will try. What kind of memories can I erase?”
“Anything. Painful memories, joyful memories, even the dull ones that are of no use.”
“Oh…oh, wait. I can see myself removing the painful ones. But why would I remove the joyful ones? Why would I want to forget the happy times of my life?”
Brad smiled without saying anything. After a few seconds, he asked, “James, what’s your favorite TV show? The one you watch again and again?”
“It’s Seinfeld without a doubt. Remember we used to watch it in my apartment?”
“Oh, yes. Good old times. Now, how many times have you watched it so far?”
“Probably fifteen times. But I can’t watch it anymore. I know all the dialogues by heart!”
Brad smiled again. He then asked slowly, “Don’t you want to forget it so that you can watch it fifteen more times?”
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