Mahesh - Week 13: Memory in Popular Culture

 Mahesh - Week 13: Memory in Popular Culture


A few weeks ago, I was wondering what is the main composition of a personality, when I noticed that memory defines a person’s decision-making process and mental capabilities. I made this discovery after watching a Tamil movie with my family. In this movie, the protagonist can transmit his memory via a neurotransmitter that seeps into others’ brains and copies his memories superimposed upon others’ memories. In this way, he lived forever through the transmission of his memory which contained the sum of his personal experiences and his emotional background.

This movie raised many questions including a potential application to the ever-present question of how to live forever. However, the ethical concerns of erasing another’s memories to transmit your own persist, making the research of this technology a very dangerous one. Research on memory and the subsequent effect of extending this memory to the pursuit of immortality can be a very intriguing concept if performed with ethical considerations in mind. 


Many technological behemoths like Elon Musk propose that humans can eventually download their subconsciousness into another entity, such as a robot. This idea essentially “cheats death” and it remains to be seen if human consciousness and memory are enough to immortalize the human spirit, as this type of research is yet to receive government funding and approval. Musk’s opinion on the issue can be found here: www.cnbc.com/2022/04/08/elon-musk-humans-could-eventually-download-their-brains-into-robots.html/.  


The combination of technology and memory prolonging human life is certainly a subject to be explored—considering that human innovation and intelligence have furthered the AI field so far within just a few years. The application of AI-generated models like ChatGPT would have been unimaginable not so long ago but is completely within our reach today. Similarly, I wonder what else would be within our reach a couple of years from now. Will we finally make the breakthrough to the fusion of technology with the human pursuit of immortality or will it all be a myth and nothing more? Only time will tell. 


An interesting possibility to the process of memory transfer and immortality is outlined here: www.interestingengineering.com/science/cheating-death-and-becoming-immortal-with-mind-uploading/. 

Source: 

Brahambhatt, Rupendra. interestingengineering.com, 7 December 2021, www.interestingengineering.com/science/cheating-death-and-becoming-immortal-with-mind-uploading/. Accessed 20 March 2024.


Sauer, Megan. cnbc.com, 8 April 2022, www.cnbc.com/2022/04/08/elon-musk-humans-could-eventually-download-their-brains-into-robots.html/. Accessed 20 March 2024.

Comments

  1. anishka jannuMarch 27, 2024 at 3:10 PM

    Hi Mahesh! I found your ideas on memory defining decision-making in humans to be very interesting. When robots and computers played a game of chess against a human, the computer ended up winning because of its memory-power. The computer was able to memorize all of the winning combinations in a chess game and predict which move would result in success. Similarly, the human could have also been successful if they had an extensive memory. Unfortunately, human memory is limited and we are not able to remember that many small details of our life.

    Having a better memory might allow humans to make better decisions, but it may also ruin their mental health. Many people that experience traumatizing events rely on their limited memory and choose to forget the devastating details of those events. If humans were somehow able to remember everything, they would have a strong memory of the negative aspects in their life. Although they would also remember positive things, the negative aspects would most likely cause people to become depressed and sad. Therefore, I believe that human emotions and an eternal memory can not be combined.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Patrick ChouMarch 27, 2024 at 9:30 PM

    Hi Mahesh, It's interesting how you've pointed out how memory impacts decision-making and mental well-being. Although having vivid memories can aid in decision-making, they can also cause difficulties when recalling bad experiences. Human cognition is complex, as seen by the complex link between memory and emotional health, finding a balance between enhancing cognitive abilities and preserving emotional stability is essential for handling potential fallout from memory-related discoveries. Given the diversity of human experiences, it is important that the integration of memory technologies be approached with delicacy and careful attention. By giving equal weight to the development of technology and mental health, society can ensure a more thorough and durable approach to maximizing human potential.

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