On 2001.12.18, hal@finney.org <hal@finney.org> wrote:
> I rented the movie Memento over the weekend, an unusual film noire which
> will be on many top ten lists this year.
As much as I think you're right, that's sad. Memento was one of
the worst movies I'd seen this year. On the DVD there was a short
written piece which I guess the movie was based off of, which was
SO much better than the movie itself. Great idea, horribly executed.
So horribly so, that I was really disappointed.
> With his memories constantly being erased,
His in-brain memories, perhaps. But, he still has external memories,
those he captures in a persistent way. So, to some degree, he still
has memories.
> is there any point to staying alive?
He still has a goal.
I have a difficult time remembering things from my past, even as
recently as a week ago. Is there any point to my staying alive?
> If you were in Leonard's situation, would you try to live, to improve
> your life? Or might one just as well give up?
I'd stay alive for a few reasons:
1) There may be a cure or a repair that would restore my ability
to form long-term memories sometime within my lifetime.
2) My long-term memories (formed since the injury) may not truly
be lost, but just inaccessible. Some day, I may be able to access
those long-term memories again.
3) I still have all the physical effects in the world that can
effectively replace my own natural long-term memory, at least to
the point where I can continue to function day-to-day.
> Like Leonard, our life will be a series of time-bounded moments, with
> continuity and causality linking them, but no sense of common
> identity.
You say this as though we ALL don't live our lives like Leonard
to some degree. I wonder ...
Just because you have natural long-term memory and that you perceive
a sense of continuity and we want to believe that there's causality,
how seriously convinced are you of it? Enough to feel that you're
functioning as "normal"? Take out long-term memory ... what would
it take to still have a sense of continuity and sufficiently provide
evidence of causality? Would external cues be sufficient? Perhaps ...
-- Dossy
--
Dossy Shiobara mail: dossy@panoptic.com
Panoptic Computer Network web: http://www.panoptic.com/
"He realized the fastest way to change is to laugh at your own
folly -- then you can let go and quickly move on." (p. 70)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat May 11 2002 - 17:44:28 MDT