What does it mean to lose your memory?
 

I was reading something and it got me thinking, how would I feel if a chuck of my memory was just gone. I then realized just how horrible a thing like that is. In many ways memory defines our existance. For the most part what we are today was shaped by our past which is recorded in our minds.

Though I guess what really gets to a person like me is the fact you lose knowledge. I have spent my life learning and gathering information. Thats almost two decades of learning, despite that I am still aware that my time on this planet is short. To lose knowledge is to lose time, our most valuable resource.

There are rumored methods of robbing someone of their memories and I have no doubt that eventually technology will make it common place. But for whatever reason, is there a greater crime then robing someone of their time, knowledge, and existance?

Yes. In fact, there may be up to two, depending on who you talk to: death, and implanting false memories. Even if I were to lose all my memories, I would still be alive, and thus able to learn and grow. But if someone were to give me ideals that were calculated to make me into a tool, I would most likely be worse than dead, working against what I once valued. But regardless, a loss of memory is not quite as bad as a loss of time, as you may have gained wealth or have relationships with people. I'm still horribly terrified of diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia, but they wouldn't be as bad as outright death to me.

granted, I neglected the greatest of all crimes, a lie. Though in many ways I would rather die then forget. I mean lets say your fifty, its pretty unlikely you can regain that much knowledge. And even if you did thats still fifty years of your life just gone.

Its like building something then having it destroyed when your done. Sure you can rebuild it, but thats time you could have spent building something new

I think the worst component of Alzheimer's isn't the actual loss of memory in and of itself, but the loss of mental stability associated with the loss of random memories and the retention of others. I'd honestly rather lose all of my memories -- have a total memory wipe, per say -- but subsequently be able to rebuild my life. Sure, I'd have no idea who I once was, but at least every subsequent memory I garnered would be remembered, and at least an identity could be forged.

The problem with Alzheimer's is, you'll remember certain things one moment -- and forget them the next. I imagine this is a terribly painful experience -- not just for the long-term memory loss, but you may very well end up trapped in a mental loop. Some moderate Alzheimer's cases invoke scenairos of folks looking for keys even after already having found them, or uttering the same sentence over and over again because they've forgotten they've already said it. At that point, the instability of your memories is more vital than their loss, and it begins to have very dire ramifications for one's ability to live a normal life.

So from my perspective, Alzheimer's is worse than even a worst-case scenairo memory wipe...and arguably worse than death. You haven't just lost who you once were, you've effectively also lost any potential to become anything. You've lost your capability to learn, your capability to love, and your capability to remember -- not just actions you once took int he past, but also any action you'll take in the future.

but alzheimers is a problem because of the memory loss

Ah, but the memory loss isn't total, or stable in the sense of giving you a complete memory wipe. An Alzheimer's patient like Ronald Reagan is stripped of a random amount of his memories -- and he has no control over which memories he keeps and which he loses. Reagan had no idea he was President and couldn't even recognize his own children, but he'd occasionally recall having worked as a teenager as a lifeguard. That's a horribly inconsistent sort of a memory loss that I'd imagine is far more gradual -- and thus, more painful -- than "Oh, you've lost all your memory. BAM. Now go and start over again."

Plus, as opposed to amnesia, Alzheimer's is constantly recurring memory loss. It's not a one-time only kind of zap. It's continuous. You're always losing memories -- not just of what has already happened. You're equally liable to forget what you're about to do next, too.

So yes, I'd much rather lose all my memory in an instant, and be forced to rebuild a new life, than have Alzheimer's. I'd still be a mentally stable human being after a memory wipe, I'd just have no idea who the hell I once was. But I'd remember everything I did after the wipe. And I'd have a sense of control over my future and my destiny that all Alzheimer's patients, sadly, totally lack.

from my understanding the condition is retroactive in the sence early memories are the first to go. Since short term memory is the only thing that makes sence of the archaic concept of time, lossing it makes differentiating past and present rather difficult.

My point is losing memory period is bad. I didn't say ammensia was better then forgeting basic math. Point is any memory loss falls into the bad things catagory. Alzheimers is a type of memory loss in the same way amnesia is. They just affect memory in different ways.

This is why, whenever I'm on some drug, I think, variations of this (depending on which it is) must be what it's like to have some mental condition. And I can totally understand it, too. I've had acid trips where I've done exactly where you're describing: it's a total mindfuck. You do do that. But when it's 'over,' you look back on it, wondering, 'how did I think that?'

There's a feeling particularly with mushrooms that you have always been tripping and you can't understand not tripping. I do enjoy the feeling, but I haven't been without the curious thought every once in a while: what if it didn't stop?

In this way, I honestly think if you know how to deal with someone who is very hyped up on drugs, you can deal with the mentally disabled. And I'm not joking--I don't mean 'fuck with the drunk guy,' I mean, 'understand the way they think.' This way you don't get frustrated when you have to say the same thing 8 times--and I think it makes you more aware of how you're acting.

Yes, though, I agree--losing one's memory would suck. All I think about these days is how everything I do adds to who I am. I would hate to be just 'blanked' like that. And yet, I know I'm the type of person where, if I could press a button one day, I might just do it on an impulse, because, 'why the hell not?' Then, I suppose, I wouldn't be able to regret it.

Mother Earth can shoulder any burden save for a liar. On the other part of the quote, why are you worried about this? If you're mems wiped, it's wiped - move on. You can't do anything about it so why think about it?

I don't believe this reasoning, but I put it out there because this is a common viewpoint on sometyhing that is exactly like building something then having it destroyed - death. Death wipes your memory, death destroys your life, but we're not supposed to worry because it's not right now (we hope) and there's no getting around it. But if we take something that probably won't happen, then we worry. Does this make sense?

From a (somewhat) Dualist's point of view, memory is not contained within the body, is part of a subtle body made up of mind, intelligence, and ego. Alzheimer's and other seemingly mind-deteriorating afflictions do not affect the mind so much as the mind's interface with this world. Like if my computer was hit with a hammer I wouldn't likely be able to continue writing this post, so for the people whose only knowledge of my existence are these posts, they might wonder where I went. Yet I would still be here - my access to the elctronic realm would simply be hampered or cut off.

I would like to take this oppurtunity to recommend the movie Momento. It is one of the best movies I've ever seen and is directly related to the topic of memory loss here. Basically, the movie follows this guy who is trying to avenge his wifes murder, the problem is, during the attack he was hit in the head and suffered brain damage that left him incapable of making new memories. So, he has to write down, or take pictures of every new thing he learns, because he forgets it within moments.

Very very good. Go rent it right now.