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Scientists Have Discovered How To 'Delete' Unwanted Memories (telegraph.co.uk)

Posted by BeauHD on from the eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind dept.

A new documentary from PBS reveals how cutting edge science enables us to 'edit' memories and create new ones from scratch. "For much of human history, memory has been seen as a tape recorder that faithfully registers information and replays it intact," say the film's makers. "But now, researchers are discovering that memory is far more malleable, always being written and rewritten, not just by us but by others. We are discovering the precise mechanisms that can explain and even control our memories."

6 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Before We Go All "This is Great!"... by sehlat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1: Does it require the subject's cooperation to erase the memories? 2: Can they be retrieved by some means later, if necessary?

    If the answer to these questions is "No." Consider the following scenarios:

    1. An accused criminal gets the key witnesses in the case wiped before the trial.

    2. Cops "forcefully interrogate" a suspect, and when the suspect turns out to be innocent, wipe the victim's memories of their treatment.

    And those are just Abuse 101.

    1. Re:Before We Go All "This is Great!"... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As far as I can tell, the entire thing is just theory of what they want to do, not that they have the ability or understanding of how to do it.

      The article has about as much science as the Discovery channel.

    2. Re:Before We Go All "This is Great!"... by Xest · · Score: 4, Insightful

      More to the point, I'm wondering if there's any actual science here. A Torygraph news article referencing a PBS documentary doesn't exactly scream "science" to me. We're basically hearing it from a tertiary source.

      So does anyone have a link to the actual research and the primary source behind this?

    3. Re:Before We Go All "This is Great!"... by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 2, Insightful

      A total memory wipe and replacement is basically the same as killing you. Yes your body is still alive but what makes you "you" is your memories, your life.

  2. Re:Paging Dr. Tyrell by Freshly+Exhumed · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Those quacks?!!! When I have memories that need removal, I page Dr. Mierzwiak!

    --
    I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
  3. Re:Of course this should be possible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Uh, no... did you watch the whole show? Has to do with old memories. The act of remembering a memory re-stores the memory. If you interrupt the re-storing process, the memory...dies.