Memory Alternation
Love is the most powerful of human emotions, and new love can make us feel alive like nothing else. The other side of love is the pain of love that has come and gone. Most of us have experienced lost love at some point, and many people believe that time heals all wounds. Could there be another way? What if we could erase the pain of lost love?
In the movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which takes place in the future, a company exists that provides a service to people who want to erase their memories. Here is the story of what happens to a man named Joel: Joel Barish was a quiet, reserved man. His life wasn’t particularly exciting, but he liked things that way. One Valentine’s Day, Joel woke up in a strange mood, which he couldn’t describe. He dressed himself and got ready for work, but when he stepped out the door, he decided not to go.
Instead, for some reason he can’t explain, Joel got on a train headed to the beach area of Montauk, Long Island. Once he arrived there, he sat on the beach all by himself and wrote in his journal. While he was writing, a girl with dyed blue hair caught his eye, but he couldn’t find the courage to approach her.
On the way home though, it turns out he and the blue-haired girl were on the same train. She introduced herself to Joel as Clementine Kruczynski. Joel felt that the conversation was awkward yet familiar, all at the same time. Even though Clementine had a different personality than Joel, he was still attracted to her. He called her as soon as he got home to make plans with her for the next day.
The next night, Joel and Clementine visited the Charles River and laid together on the ice. Their opposite personalities seemed to click and they both felt themselves falling in love with each other. It felt like love at first sight. In reality though, Joel and Clementine were old lovers who had forgotten each other. They first met long before the train ride. They met two years earlier and already shared a passionate relationship. It ended in a lot of emotional pain for both of them. So much so, they wished they could forget about each other.
After they broke up, Clementine decided to have all memories of Joel erased from her brain. She contacted a medical company called Lacuna, Inc., which specializes in altering people’s memories. Once the procedure was complete, Clementine no longer had any idea that Joel even existed. Joel on the other hand, still had all his memories of Clementine. At one point, he missed Clementine so badly that he went out looking for her. When he found her, she was kissing another man, and when Joel approached her, she didn’t even recognize him. This upset Joel, since he couldn’t understand how she could forget about him and move on so soon.
He discussed his feelings with friends, who told him that Clementine had Joel erased from her memory.
After hearing what Clementine did, Joel also decided to erase Clementine from his memory.
Two years later, fate or random chance brings Joel and Clementine together again on the beach in Long Island. Now that they are meeting for a second time, they have another chance to make the relationship work. While they don’t remember each other, they do both feel an instant connection to one another. Even though they both feel like they are starting a new relationship, will they be fated to break up in the same way all over again?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a fictional movie, but there is truth behind the concept of memory alteration. Scientists have discovered a way to alter memories. They hope to be able to erase traumatic memories from a person’s brain. They are still several years away from testing this theory on humans though. Right now, they are using mice as test subjects.
The scientists have discovered a gene in the brain called the tet1 gene. This gene is responsible for memory extinction, which is the process of new memories replacing old ones. The theory is, the higher the activity of the tet1 gene, the easier it will be to erase old memories.
To test this theory, they placed each mouse into a cage, where once inside, each mouse received an electric shock. The mice began to associate the cage with the electric shock, which was a traumatic experience for them. Then the scientists split the mice into two separate groups. The first group retained their tet1 gene as normal, while the second group had their tet1 gene removed. The mice were then placed inside of the cage again, this time without the electric shock. Over time, the mice with the normal tet1 gene learned to not be afraid of the cage. Their painful memories faded over time. Their new memories replaced the old, traumatic memory of the electric shock, and they no longer had anything to fear.
The mice with the tet1 gene removed were just as afraid of the cage as ever. Without the tet1 gene to replace their traumatic memories, the mice’s old memory of the painful electric shock stayed strong.
In the future, this research into the tet1 gene may help humans forget painful memories. But it is only a small piece of the puzzle. The scientists have discovered which gene is responsible for replacing old memories. What they haven’t figured out is how to select individual memories they want to replace. For fictional Clementine and Joel, they still kept all the old memories from their past, and erased only the ones they no longer wanted to keep. That is much more advanced than the experiment with the mice. That said, the experiment is definitely moving us in a direction that will change the shape of the human experience.
Is erasing painful memories the key to happiness? The search for happiness is a growing fad in the world of psychology. Of course, we all want to be happy, but erasing sad memories might not be the best way. While sadness and pain is something people naturally try to avoid, these situations sometimes give us the greatest opportunity for personal growth. And of course, the pain we experience in our lives doesn’t just make us stronger. The experience of overcoming suffering and learning how to handle pain becomes a part of our identity. Who would you be if you had never experienced the pain of loss? You’d probably be a much different person. And how much sympathy and compassion for others in pain would you have if you had no experience of pain yourself?
