Memory Ctrl Alt Del

Can we control, alter, and delete memories?

It seems as though we have the ability to at least control our own thoughts to a significant degree, but to what degree, might be the question. If we are able to control what we think about, it seems we are able to control our memories, assuming basically all thought is a process of memory (as I further explained in a post from almost 2 yrs ago; Theory of Thought). If we are able to control our memories, we should be able to alter them, and possibly even delete them.

The meaning of the word “control” should be quite relevant here, and leads to the question and philosophy of free will. But sticking with the basic mechanics, I’ll consider “control” to mean the ability to cause an intentional effect. Without going further into the question of whether any intention we have is predetermined, and for simplicities’ sake of this context, I’ll assume we can have individual intention. On this assumption, if we are able to intentionally cause an effect on our environment, we should be able to cause an intentional effect on our thoughts, and therein memories. 

If we choose to learn something, we are intentionally causing our memories to save new information, and make new connections within our memories. Or, if we desire to think about something in particular, and we intentionally access the memories involved, then we are hypothetically controlling our memory access. If we choose to create new preferable memories, we can cause that effect, by taking action to experience something, which will store it as a memory. We can do this by practicing a preferable skill, doing an activity we find enjoyable, or seeking out information we want to learn.

Controlling our thought process, and intentionally causing an effect, should also allow the ability to alter memories. Altering memories, could be the process of adding new connections of additional memories. For eg, altering your memory of dragons, could be done by seeing new pictures of dragons, or learning new information about them (like the fact that people used to refer to dinosaurs as dragons (there, I just virtually altered your memory of the concept of dragons)). You could also alter your memory of the sight of a particular object, by viewing it again in more detail. This would save more accurate measurements (from your eyes) of the object, in memory. Assuming all memories are saved via combinations of neurons, representing the measurements which your senses perceived (as I further hypothesized in a post from last month; Memory Information), learning new information is the process of altering memories, by making new neural pathway connections to various neural combinations, which represent memories of what we know. 

Altering a memory in a way of reducing it rather than adding to it, would be a step towards deleting a memory. This seems likely to be much more difficult. Basically, we would have to reduce the connectivity to particular neural combos. If a combination of neurons, which represents a memory, is disconnected from being activated, it should be effectively deleted. Since it seems neural combos are reinforced through repeated electrical flow, perhaps the best method would be to simply avoid perceiving through senses, that which the memory represents, as well as avoid thinking about it. Avoiding thinking about something can be difficult, if effective or many connections are preexisting to that memory, from other neural combos. But, perhaps reinforcing new connections to neural combos other than what is preferably “deleted”, via repetition or prioritization (using instinctual feedback mechanisms) would be a plausible method to reduce the connectivity.

In a way, it seems likely that our memories are technically altered basically every second that we are awake (as well as dreaming), although the degree to which they are altered, may be insignificant to our notice. A lot of alterations would be circumstantial, but any time you choose to learn something or think about something, you are controllably altering your memories (and have some potential to delete). So if you want to restart with a preferable function of mind, just hit Ctrl Alt Del on your Memories.