This was a great exploration of the human experience in the presence of a technology we will eventually have! Often people remark on ways in which technology fails society in aggregate, but it’s great to see individual positively transformative experiences highlighted. “To save one life is to save the world.”
I enjoyed that Lucas and Alex have the most genuine connection after experiencing something they would never willingly choose to (the memory of doubt). This technology could definitely produce interesting relationship dynamics. Earlier when Alex expresses the fear of not truly knowing someone you love, while I was sympathetic to it, it also felt misguided. Life is a constant exploration of oneself, how could you expect to know someone else to the same extent? Loving someone is being excited to constantly explore their ever changing mystery. A beginning of infinity perhaps? ;)
I also really enjoyed the distinction made between memories as facts vs memories as interpretations/feelings about the facts. (Compression is everywhere). Additionally, we are constantly reinterpreting memories based on context changes. A solo, constant game of telephone to build a suitable narrative about our lives. Obviously this has many positive benefits, including being able to turn bad experiences into positive ones, but I ultimately think it might be better to get a higher fidelity view of the past. The harder it is to twist the narrative, the more likely you will require real change/growth.
Of course the best part was Marcus reconnecting with his old self to go back to his original values! Reading old journal entries can seem so foreign at times and easy to dismiss, imagine instead having all the fidelity of your feelings, and rationalizations at the time. The experience could be incredibly powerful to inspire. (I wonder to what extent an aging brain and loss of neurons would degrade this experience — aging is once again instrumental)
Overall this was a thoughtful, and interesting story, great job and glad I was around to see the process!
So glad you enjoyed and thanks for the thorough comment!
The idea with Alex was intentionally a misguided emotion, which I believe people tend to have, that thoughtwave allowed her to better identify and overcome (nice infinity reference 😊)
I also really like your analogy to a solo game of telephone. Highlighting the context change as well is an important idea for why memories may be more malleable than maybe we expect.
This was a great exploration of the human experience in the presence of a technology we will eventually have! Often people remark on ways in which technology fails society in aggregate, but it’s great to see individual positively transformative experiences highlighted. “To save one life is to save the world.”
I enjoyed that Lucas and Alex have the most genuine connection after experiencing something they would never willingly choose to (the memory of doubt). This technology could definitely produce interesting relationship dynamics. Earlier when Alex expresses the fear of not truly knowing someone you love, while I was sympathetic to it, it also felt misguided. Life is a constant exploration of oneself, how could you expect to know someone else to the same extent? Loving someone is being excited to constantly explore their ever changing mystery. A beginning of infinity perhaps? ;)
I also really enjoyed the distinction made between memories as facts vs memories as interpretations/feelings about the facts. (Compression is everywhere). Additionally, we are constantly reinterpreting memories based on context changes. A solo, constant game of telephone to build a suitable narrative about our lives. Obviously this has many positive benefits, including being able to turn bad experiences into positive ones, but I ultimately think it might be better to get a higher fidelity view of the past. The harder it is to twist the narrative, the more likely you will require real change/growth.
Of course the best part was Marcus reconnecting with his old self to go back to his original values! Reading old journal entries can seem so foreign at times and easy to dismiss, imagine instead having all the fidelity of your feelings, and rationalizations at the time. The experience could be incredibly powerful to inspire. (I wonder to what extent an aging brain and loss of neurons would degrade this experience — aging is once again instrumental)
Overall this was a thoughtful, and interesting story, great job and glad I was around to see the process!
So glad you enjoyed and thanks for the thorough comment!
The idea with Alex was intentionally a misguided emotion, which I believe people tend to have, that thoughtwave allowed her to better identify and overcome (nice infinity reference 😊)
I also really like your analogy to a solo game of telephone. Highlighting the context change as well is an important idea for why memories may be more malleable than maybe we expect.