Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post - Little bit of Philosophical type of thing

slicer15 · 01-14-2004, 06:33 PM

I'm sorry if this is included in the recent ban on debates...I assume it's just for religious issues...I just needed to get this off my chest.

Over the last few, oh....months/year I've noticed that, after reading certain books (Artemis Fowl) and playing certain games (KotOR) that your memories and experiences make you who you are. I mean, if you got your memories wiped the person you were is dead. Gone. Never to return depending on the completeness of the wipe. As you grow up the experiences you record and develop from are what develops your character, right? I mean, if you clone someone that had a loving, caring childhood and brought them up in an uncaring, cold family the clone would undoubtedly turn out to be a different person, in character and everything else. Let me explain what drew my attention in Artemis Fowl...WARNING - BOOK PLOTLINE SPOILER!!
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Basically over the course of three books, Artemis Fowl is an ingenious criminal mastermind but his character changes during the course of the story, as he becomes a better person as a whole. However at the end of the last book he gets his memory wiped of all that transpired over the course of the previous two books, and he returns to being the criminal mastermind, plotting ways of making money, only ever making money.

Now this has shaken me more than little. I mean, you are your memories (well, and experiences, whatever records them in your brain). You can kill a person just as effectively as shooting them by wiping their memory. They won't be the same person as before. In fact, it will be almost like they develop anew, by living life again and learning from experience.

One thing that comforts me is that there most likely is still one single element within you that makes you unique, that determines how you react from experiences and deal with them. So you won't be a completely new person if you lose all the information you've recorded from experience because there is a little flicker of your character, your individuality. A good-natured person will most likely always remain a good-natured person...but that can be debatable if even that is determined by social, physical and mental development.

Sorry about this, I just felt I needed to get this off my chest and written somewhere...if you've sifted and read through my wad of text I appreciate it, even if you don't post your thoughts. Anyways, once again, if the mods find this inappropriate please let me know and delete it...but I had to get this down somewhere. Thank you. [img]smile.gif[/img]

01-14-2004, 06:33 PM	#1
slicer15 Symbol of Cyric Join Date: November 12, 2002 Location: Banstead, Southeast England Age: 38 Posts: 1,162	I'm sorry if this is included in the recent ban on debates...I assume it's just for religious issues...I just needed to get this off my chest. Over the last few, oh....months/year I've noticed that, after reading certain books (Artemis Fowl) and playing certain games (KotOR) that your memories and experiences make you who you are. I mean, if you got your memories wiped the person you were is dead. Gone. Never to return depending on the completeness of the wipe. As you grow up the experiences you record and develop from are what develops your character, right? I mean, if you clone someone that had a loving, caring childhood and brought them up in an uncaring, cold family the clone would undoubtedly turn out to be a different person, in character and everything else. Let me explain what drew my attention in Artemis Fowl...WARNING - BOOK PLOTLINE SPOILER!! ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Basically over the course of three books, Artemis Fowl is an ingenious criminal mastermind but his character changes during the course of the story, as he becomes a better person as a whole. However at the end of the last book he gets his memory wiped of all that transpired over the course of the previous two books, and he returns to being the criminal mastermind, plotting ways of making money, only ever making money. Now this has shaken me more than little. I mean, you are your memories (well, and experiences, whatever records them in your brain). You can kill a person just as effectively as shooting them by wiping their memory. They won't be the same person as before. In fact, it will be almost like they develop anew, by living life again and learning from experience. One thing that comforts me is that there most likely is still one single element within you that makes you unique, that determines how you react from experiences and deal with them. So you won't be a completely new person if you lose all the information you've recorded from experience because there is a little flicker of your character, your individuality. A good-natured person will most likely always remain a good-natured person...but that can be debatable if even that is determined by social, physical and mental development. Sorry about this, I just felt I needed to get this off my chest and written somewhere...if you've sifted and read through my wad of text I appreciate it, even if you don't post your thoughts. Anyways, once again, if the mods find this inappropriate please let me know and delete it...but I had to get this down somewhere. Thank you. [img]smile.gif[/img]