Must we let people fall to their deaths if we can prevent it, so that we might be reminded of the existence of gravity?

The article says re holocaust survivors: "our understanding of that great evil would be immeasurably lessened [if survivors erased their bad memories]: their memories are our conscience."

Well and good if you're not a holocaust survivor.

My girlfriend survived the Cultural Revolution (Mao killed 100 million of his citizens). She should remember her rape, torture, brainwashing and imprisonment, her witnessing of executions, for our benefit? To this day she trusts no one, likes to take walks only at night so she can't be seen; she is irrationally suspicious of everything and everyone and always will be. In short, her life has been destroyed. She was sacrificed for Mao; now she should be sacrificed for the rest of us? I don't think so. I would do anything to give her her life back. Before you spout off, get to know someone like this. They're everywhere.

Michael, New York, New York

Used in the proper medical setting this type of medication could restore functional life to those who suffer with severe Post traumatic Stress Disorder. The events of our pasts can debilitate and ruin our lives and render some incapable of engaging in any form of a healthy relationship. To deny this type of treatment option because of some kind of sanctimonious or elitist notion about the value of our memories is very narrow sighted.

Jimmy Fox, Bellingham , USE

I am probably one of the best-placed people to comment on this subject. I lost two years of my memories, simply by contracting a brain disease. Am I glad that I lost all my bad memories? NO. Your experiences and memories make you who you are, and if you wake up one day and have lost that time, then who are you? It is frightening to have to re-discover yourself, to rely on photographs and other people's memories. Even wiping out your own memories does not mean that other people's will be wiped out too. I am lucky in that I actually woke up, and only lost two years, whereas other people have lost their all their memories. Since my memory loss I have of course had bad experiences, I have bad memories from these experiences, but would I wipe them out? To me it seems just as ridiculous as wiping out good memories. Before anyone even thinks about doing this, they should speak to someone like me and understand the consequences of their actions. Once they're gone they won't come back

Stephanie, London,

Recall of seriously traumatic events can be and usually is debilitating ,giving rise to PTSD.
The Rewind Technique (see www.beatptsd.com)allows this recall to become a memory! Memories are under voluntary control and as such can be recalled at will and dismissed at will.
No one in their right mind would want their memories erased even if they are bad.
What traumatized people want is to not to be tormented by involuntary recall.

david muss, BIRMINGHAM, UK

Memories do indeed make us who we are. They also enable us to prevent ourselves from possibly making mistakes a second time around. People become wise by learning from their mistakes, mistakes are associated with memories of that mistake first time round, good or bad. If we have erased the memory we have erased the lesson learned. What doesn't kill you should only make you stronger and help you to be thankful for the good things you have experienced and have in your life. Don't erase what could be invaluable to learn from.

Stella C, Milton Keynes, Bucks

An interesting use of this therapy would be the 'deletion' of memories relating to criminal or dishonest actions and their subsequent non-disclosure during polygraph interrogation.

A subject could truthfully respond to questioning, contradicting fact, and no-one (including themselves) would be the wiser.

Bruce Haig, Frankfurt am Main,

More wretched dangerous pseudo psychological claptrap.

the duke of putney, dorset, uk

To SM Sterling who says that people should be allowed to use the drug if they so wish as it has no impact on people who shun it- this is absurd. A person who commits a violent act and spends time in prison could in principle use the drug to forget the the trauma of incarceration. In doing so they will erase the emotional deterence and also maybe the guilt of their criminal act leading to a similar act to be repeated. Please think a bit deeper and realise that our thoughts and mind do impinge on other peoples lives.

jack, london, uk

According to Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, life experiences build memories. These memories are the integral parts of an individual’s identity. Removal of memories isn’t really something one should take lightly; a so called simple tweak could mean the difference between having a loving caring personality to a horrendous one it could also change an individual from being a giving human to becoming a selfish individual. Personal experience dictates that one slight change in memory is not something which I would wish to purchase or would advise anyone to rush into regardless of the memory good or bad.


Leon Earlington, UK

Leon Earlington, Bedfordshire, UK, United Kingdom

ditto

Emanuele, Milan,

ditto

Emanuele, q,

Who do you suppose is sponsoring this research? Another case of Big Pharma seeking to leverage its past investment in developing a drug for one purpose by exploring its uses for other things - in this case a hyper tension drug that had debilitating side effects in terms of memory loss. The press can usually be counted on to report these cases as positive scientific research. But the use of such free, self-administered techniques such as Emotional Freedom Techniques (a form of emotional acupuncture) for treating PTSD - as used successfully in both Israel & the US - elicits not a single line.
Money talks & big money talks loudest.

Peter, Istanbul, Turkey

Whether people use these drugs is... _their own business_.

Mr. Macintyre, live your own life and leave others to live theirs as they chose.

As Jefferson commented, his neighbors' choices were no concern of his as long as they did not pick his pocket or break his leg.

S.M. Stirling, Santa Fe, NM USA

This is yet another area in which potential authoritarian abuse needs to be resisted. I am doing my best to resist it at present, all the time. Actually the government is continually controlling our memories by what is presented in the media; by what is recorded in the history books. This alone is a very powerful tool and does amount to censorship. The tendency towards the presentation of all publicity in overwhelming PC terms is another assault on memory - the control of what is to be remembered. It is an insidious, ongoing business which undermines identity. Control of one’s memory is control of one’s identity. I definitely prefer to remain in control of my own, regardless of who that may inconvenience.

Henry Percy, London, UK

There are far too many people - already - who are running our lives - to our detriment.

The worst aspect of this is that most people seem to be blithely unaware of it.

Like the current, dangerous fad for Botox, this could be the next fashion.

The thought fills me with horror.. and without the horror, why would I object?

There are some very nasty people out there. They would, (If they could), control large sections of the population even more than religions control them now, even more than social security controls them now; even more than war, famine and poverty control them now.

Don't let us encourage them, eh?

Charlotte Peters Rock, Knutsford, England

People always tell us to learn from the past. If we can delete our memory, how can we learn?

Stephanie, Hong Kong, China

I don't think it's true that one has to summon up a painful memory, complete with flinching, in order to empathise. Nor do I think it's necessary to be terrified by an atrocity in order to be aware that it is morally wrong; the phrase "the truly horrific nature of war could be obscured" implies that people who recoil involuntarily are privy to some deeper truth than those with calmer and more rational reactions - but why does that follow? I fail to see why panic should be considered enlightening.

Felix, Nottingham,

Yes, the tyranny of memory must be embraced. It's a ledger of our mistakes, collective and individual, and could well prevent history from repeating itself.
An excellent article.

Suganthy Krishnamachari, Chennai, INDIA