Who would you be?

Published by

Ponderer

on

June 16, 2018

What do your memories mean to you? How much a part are they of your fundamental personality?

If you had amnesia tomorrow, if you didn’t remember the experiences and people in your life… would you be you? Or could you be anyone you decided to be from that point forward?

If, say, you were an asshat before your amnesia, but it had to do with all the stuff in your backstory, would you still be an asshat without your memories? Or would you be some totally different version of yourself, the person you might have been without your particular history?

Example: I hate seafood. Hate the taste, hate the smell. Mom hated it, so she never cooked it. But what if I didn’t have that memory or knowledge? Would I possibly like fish?

This is the question plaguing me at eleven on a Saturday night while I’m in the bath after a migraine day.

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7 responses to “Who would you be?”

Ali Vali

June 17, 2018

That’s such an interesting question, but (and taking into consideration I can be an asshat) I love my memories even the tough ones because they’re the history of who I am. Losing them would mean I’d lose the memory of my parents, my brother and all the times we had together. My mom and dad told so many stories and they still make me laugh when I think of them.

It does suck that you don’t like seafood. Living in Louisiana that would be a tough one 🙂

Reply
1. Admin
  
  June 18, 2018
  
  Would you still be you, though? Would you still be a storyteller? Would you still laugh and smile the way you do? Would family be as important when you couldn’t remember being taught that?
  
  Reply
  1. Ali Vali
    
    June 19, 2018
    
    I’d like to think I wouldn’t be too far off from where I am. In my opinion we all have that core that can be influenced but not to the point of breaking too far away from what makes every one of us who we are. Maybe those around me might’ve liked if I was less of a story teller so there’s that 😉
Carol

June 17, 2018

Sounds like an interesting character in your next book!

Reply
1. Admin
  
  June 18, 2018
  
  That would be a tough one. 🙂
  
  Reply
Widdershins

June 17, 2018

How clean is the slate wiped? Sub/unconscious memories? Muscle memory?
I think that if only our conscious memory is wiped we’d still be left with desperately frustrating ‘echoes’ that wouldn’t make any sense to us.
Are we in a completely new place or country? If we remained in the same (geographical) place/ environment then others living with and/or around us would still be responding and reacting to us the same way which would also produce a similar dissonance.

Reply
1. Admin
  
  June 18, 2018
  
  I always love your replies. 🙂
  I suppose it depends on how deeply the memory is stored. People with dementia lose daily things, but can often retain childhood memories.
  And in that case, social surrounding doesn’t seem to impact—grown children aren’t recognised and the person can be very, very, different.
  
  Reply