So- the thing is that your brain- as far as we know- doesn’t actually work like a computer. I’ve mentioned this before. We use computer terminology and concepts and allegories for the brain to help us understand. Before computers they likened the brain to a clock, and before that to pneumatic machinery.
Current understanding of the brain is that you don’t have a hard drive. There isn’t a place in your mind where your PIN number is stored or a picture of your mum and I can find it and read it like a file. Your brain... it’s hardware. You don’t store the “data” of your pin. Sections of your brain rearrange themselves physically- so that when you need your pin- that section of your brain gets fired up and a pin comes out- hopefully. Same with faces- you don’t have a jpeg of your best friend’s face your brain goes through a faces file to compare to until it recognizes one.
You have a part of your brain that is physically adapted to associate that face with certain things, feelings, impressions. That’s how mistaken identity works. Tags why many people have trouble drawing something “from memory” or can’t tell you if something is right or wrong but will “know it when they see it.”
If you can draw a $1 bill from memory it isn’t because you are good at “seeing the bill in your mind...” it’s because you have REALLY physically imprinted recognizing $1 into your mind- and formed pathways to let you replicate that- bridges between your hands and the areas of your brain where those structures which recognize the bull are formed.
We can say in essence that is what imagination is- you’ve wired up your brain so that you can make it recognize things- you can energize the pathways that when encountering a stimulus are dedicated to that response- without the stimulus being present!
So all you need to do to “erase a memory” is hit someone hard enough in the head. That’s pretty much what brain damage is. You’ve destroyed pathways and structures that allow communication and acquired response. The “wrinkles” in the brain are in essence this- new structures formed to either respond to a certain thing or to make connections between existing stimulus and response- associations. If you know how to type- and you recognize your keyboard- as soon as your brain recognizes a different keyboard is the same as yours for all intents even if it isn’t identical- you don’t have to relearn the skill.
So to “destroy a memory” without a baseball bat or making it so you can no longer see etc- you have to target structures in the brain that were formed as pathways to store that stimulus and associations/responses.
Since- see beginning- these aren’t files we can preview- you can’t just look at a cluster of Neurons and say “this is Feb 2nd 1967, 2:45pm..” or “this is that really bad breakup...” identifying WHAT you are erasing is a major challenge. The next problem is, even if you KNOW what you are looking for.....
@savagedemigod- sorry for the delayed reply and for stopping mid way. I got pulled away on something urgent right in the middle of this. Lol. I’ve worn many hats and studied many things is all. My work takes me to interesting places that often require a broad and deep scope of topics.
To continue- association is the problem. Your brain can use seemingly unrelated clusters and pathways for multiple things. It’s easier and makes more sense to connect the existing paths that have the processes for starting the DVD player with new formations on your laptops CD drive than it is to create all new paths on how to load a CD- you already know how to load a CD- so we bridge the processes so that if we see a laptop we use steps 3-6 of the DVD player.
But for example- the part of the brain that recognizes feet- and the part of the brain that we use to identify with our genitals... they are next to each other. It’s very easy for a process to happen and the two get connected. Boom- now you have a foot fetish because feet make you think of your junk and hence give you sexual arousal.
We can trace many sexual behaviors to this type of connection- when you are at an age where you are forming your early sexuality- experiences can have a profound impact on development. If something happens or you are subject to long term attitudes about sex- day you’re exploring yourself or trying to flirt with others- and you get embarrassed- a pathway can form to where you associate sexual with shame. This might create a network where upon having sexual thoughts or feelings triggers an impulse straight to a part of your brain that makes you feel shame instead- a cycle that creates aversion.
Just as easily- the pathway can form so that shame triggers arousal- some people will seek debasement and shame, or seek acts that are socially stigmatized- not because they “like” the act itself exactly- but because the act is one that is “dirty” and so it arouses them. And that’s the thing- these same behaviors can be caused by a TON of different mechanisms or roots. These aren’t the only paths to liking shame or finding thrills in the “dirty” or “kinky.” And I am not saying or implying these feelings are on any way abhorrent or a sign of trauma etc.
My point is- just because in one person a behavior comes from a certain connection or path- doesn’t mean it is always so. So you like.... people with dwarfism wrestling- but only if they are 70+. And nothing about the dwarves or the age- it turns your crank because you see it is odd and sick. So now when you watch or participate- you get good feelings. And you form stronger pathways between those things and feeling good. You want to feel good- but dopamine response and triggers to create or strengthen connections tend to taper with exposure. So in a while you need something new-
The next thing you like will be based in part off the connections you formed previously. It will build off them and borrow off them. In romance we often call this a “type.” Where a person tends to like certain things and that may change but it usually builds and evolves off their former type and experiences with that type- how they associate that good or bad etc.
And now it is all bundled up. Connected- and to erase one of those memories leaves all these pathways that are now severed. They won’t work right because a hub in between them is broken- a link in the chain is missing.
But if we just substitute some “stand in” somehow that erases that in memory but allows the existing pathways to still function the same- well... two problems. 1. That one piece of the thing is gone but not the rest. Unclear how that makes you act or feel- but think of it this way- when someone moves away or dies- we generally feel loss. When someone moves something of ours we don’t remember moving- we may not realize what happened but we feel off.
Your brain has formed pathways to say something should be there. It is not. It must reconcile this. It doesn’t like that. Losing a memory without erasing those things tangental to the memory could cause issues- phantom recollection or the knowledge something is missing but no ability to say what. It could be very interesting but unethical to see how a human might change or react. Phantom limb syndrome-
This is where a person loses say- a hand. But they still FEEL it. The weight, it can still itch but they cannot scratch it. It might hurt. Currently this is believed to be because the brain is supposed to reside itself so that it erases all the parts having to do with that limb- and somehow it fails. Pathways exist in your brain specifically so you can recognize your own limbs. Some people have the opposite issue of phantom limb- they literally don’t believe their body parts are theirs.
They see the arm. They usually can control the arm- but if you eat with that arm- you will think a stranger is feeding you. If you are asked/ you’d honestly say you have one arm. Some people get so distressed they seek amputation or self amputate- because the part of their brain that recognizes their own body has problems. You can EASILY bite off your own finger or tongue. The “healthy” brain stops us from doing that.
Ever see someone fly across the room from an electric shock- in movies or (hopefully not) real life? That isn’t the electricity. Your muscles- yes you. Yes- even you who are 90lbs soaking wet- you could probably jump your own height or lift your own weight on top of yourself at least once over. That is- if your body didn’t stop you.
If you used your muscles with all the force and speed they can generate your hurt yourself. You could flex so hard you break that bone from the force. When you get a good jolt- the muscles are stimulated by electricity directly and react proportionally. Those people that get thrown 30 feet in a couple seconds really just basically sprinted on accident.
Part of physical labor or working out and getting stronger isn’t even the extra power of building g muscle. Through repetition your body forms pathways to optimize your use of your existing muscles. You become better at using the muscle you have and your central nervous system eases up a bit on the training wheels and lets you use more of what your muscles can do.
So these systems can become wired certain ways or become defective or through genetic mutation form differently and cause all sorts of good, bad, or mixed results. But phantom limb and similar cases are some examples of what can happen if the brain keeps part of a pathway but not all of what it needs.
We said two- so the second issue is... 2. If you erase a “memory” but otherwise don’t alter the network and pathways linked to it... you haven’t really changed anything most likely. Your behaviors are wired into this network. Do you always smoke when you drink or have coffee? Do you instinctively prefer to sit around on the couch to taking a walk outside? Do you always check your rearview mirrors when you get in the car? Are you always sure to offer the last slice of cake to someone else?
These are some examples of what can be behaviors rooted in how our brains are laid out. Some information- a stimulus goes in, signals are sent through the network based on the stimulus- of the stimulus is known we then act based primarily on the pathways we have for that stimulus. If the “memory” of something is gone but the path is still there- rooted behaviors or emotional responses don’t go away by default.
That horrible memory of seeing mommy and daddy fighting? Erasing it doesn’t erase your anger issues. Those were formed by new pathways you created over time based on every situation that came up after that. Every time you made a connection through that part of your brain- how that connection worked was influenced by it, how other things work was based off of what you built off of that. It has woven into who you are as a person and really- aspects of yourself you might not realize.
Did it make you drink? You became an alcoholic- but erasing jay bad memory doesn’t erase the drinking. You started drinking, your brain formed pathways for drinking- when to drink, how much, drinking felt good so it made these pathways big and deep and wide, and wired them to associate with happiness or even basic survival like breathing or eating or sleep. And those don’t just disappear because the memory that caused it did.
When your parents got divorced and that made you think commitment was a lie- you erase that- bye bye commitment issues! Wait. No. Not likely. See- you went through that relationship with Sam, and Alex, and Sasha- and you formed associations and pathways for “commitment issues” along the way. When thing fell through with Sam just as you were opening up- that reinforced to you that you were right.
So now your are 25,35, whatever- and your commitment issues may start with the divorce- but they come from a lifetime of experiences and perceptions that have nothing to do with that divorce. You’d have to scrub them all. So likely you can erase the memory of the time you called your boss “Daddy” by mistake- but you won’t likely erase the feelings of unease or shame you get- if you have anxiety- that likely won’t get rid of it either. In fact- if you have anxiety knowing that you erased memories could be a source of anxiety as your brain says “wait.. what did they erase? Did I need it? How do I know they didn’t change other things or erase other things? Am I still me? Has Brenda in HR been looking at me weird? Why? Did I erase the thing that she’s weirded out by? What was so bad? I can’t ask her...” etc.
Which leads us to... the world doesn’t forget. What if you had a home wand that really did just erase bad memories like a file without any of the complications we’ve discussed. So now- every time someone brings up something you did that was embarrassing, bad, selfish, that time you stood them up, the assignment that you were late on... you shrug. “What are you talking about? Are you sure that was me...?” To the casual observer you might seem either completely flakey, or you might seem obnoxious- “Alex never admits they were wrong...” “they never fess up to things..” “they did XYZ and the next day/week/etc cake up to me and tried to act like it never happened...”
Also realize- when you are wondering why that person you were dating, married to, whatever- why everything was going so great but now they want nothing to do with you? Why you didn’t get the promotion, why your friends are acting odd, etc etc- you may not have any idea what is going on. Your world could become very fragmented. Like an Alzheimer’s or dementia patient.
Ever been filmed when you were black out drunk or hear stories of yourself? Ever wonder or hope you didn’t do anything too bad or foolish? Ever have nights that you could only recollect a snippet here and a snippet there? It can be quite upsetting or disorienting. Sometimes I’m trying to fill in those blank spaces- what we make up or assume is worse than the truth.
In theory- what we would call “simpler” lifeforms would be easier to do this to. Their brains aren’t believed to be able to create as many pathways and structures, the associations aren’t believed to be as complex. Often the relative simplicity of their cognitive functions makes them more resilient- to where what would be totally fatal or debilitating brain injury in a human seems to not effect the function and lifecycle of a much “simpler” brain.
Might I ask how you know so much?