[Spad]

If you could spend one year in perfect happiness but afterward would remember nothing of the experience would you do so? If not, why not?

 

[spaceman]

Probably not, because the whole point is to retain those happy memories, something to reflect upon as one continues to live. If there is no recollection, I would consider it wasted time if I could not recall the happy moments.

Spad...Where the hell are you coming up with all these questions? You going through a mid-life reassessment too?

 

[mclaren20]

why not, if i came out with no relolection of it, but was changed in no way, why not?

for that year it would be great, even if i dont remember it.

 

[psxguy85]

No, I'd want to remember what I had done to make myself so happy. What is the point if I didn't remember it from time to time?

 

[Hajime]

So, basically you have a year of bliss then amnesia? Isn't that the same as giving up a year of your life?

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally posted by spaceman Probably not, because the whole point is to retain those happy memories, something to reflect upon as one continues to live. If there is no recollection, I would consider it wasted time if I could not recall the happy moments.

Have you thought this through, Spaceman? Suppose your present life is absolutely miserable, or you're terminally ill. What then?

Could it be that all our lives are exactly like that one year, except that we live our entire lives only to forget all as we return to some greater self? Can the personality survive without memory?

Quote:

Spad...Where the hell are you coming up with all these questions? You going through a mid-life reassessment too?

Not at all. I'm just amusing myself and hopefully a few others as well. There are no wrong answers, but I find the responses extremely interesting. There is more to the questions than meet the eye.

 

[mclaren20]

question....


how does this year affect your 'normal' life? does everything carry on as it did before this year?

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally posted by psxguy85 No, I'd want to remember what I had done to make myself so happy. What is the point if I didn't remember it from time to time?

When your life is over will it really differ from that single year? All the schooling, work, achievement and joy will be gone as though you never were. Yet none would say life is pointless.

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally posted by mclaren20 question.... how does this year affect your 'normal' life? does everything carry on as it did before this year?

Yes, as though it never happened--except that a year has been erased from your life.

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hajime So, basically you have a year of bliss then amnesia? Isn't that the same as giving up a year of your life?

Perhaps not. You would have lived all 365 days in perfect happiness. What would be lost is only memory. But what is memory? Could it be a kind of finger-hold above the abyss?

 

[Hajime]

Quote:

Originally posted by Spad Perhaps not. You would have lived all 365 days in perfect happiness. What would be lost is only memory. But what is memory? Could it be a kind of finger-hold above the abyss?

But you said life would go on like the year before, as if none of the happy stuff had happened. You would have lost a year of your life. There would be no reason for any of it.

 

[spaceman]

Quote:

Originally posted by Spad Have you thought this through, Spaceman? Suppose your present life is absolutely miserable, or you're terminally ill. What then?

Yes I have thought about it, and I still come to the same conclusion. What is the point of giving up one year of your life, if you will not be able to remember what you did? If one has a miserable life, and then lives a happy life for one year, only to forget what happened after that year, they will still be miserable. Terminally ill? It may work, but only if one dies during that one happy year, if not, they will be right back where they started from, with no recollection of those happy times during the past year. It is not just the physical experience that makes people happy, but the memories of those experiences, allowing one to reflect and relive those moments.

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hajime But you said life would go on like the year before, as if none of the happy stuff had happened. You would have lost a year of your life. There would be no reason for any of it.

Stretch that year to encompass your entire life. Will you have any memory after your death? If not, does that render your life meaningless? Don't we always exist on some knife edge of "now" bounded by a steadily dimming past and an unknowable future?

Don't presume I know the answers to any of this, Hajime. I'm just a guy who likes to ask questions, and your ideas are a valid as my own.

 

[MusicJunkie]

I would definitely do it. Why not? Even if my life is miserable before and after I might as well enjoy that year of happiness.

I don't live my life just to have memories. I try to live in the moment and enjoy life as it happens, not just when I look back at it.

MJ

 

[Hajime]

Quote:

Originally posted by Spad Stretch that year to encompass your entire life. Will you have any memory after your death? If not, does that render your life meaningless? Don't we always exist on some knife edge of "now" bounded by a steadily dimming past and an unknowable future? Don't presume I know the answers to any of this, Hajime. I'm just a guy who likes to ask questions, and your ideas are a valid as my own.

I like to ask questions too. I'm just enjoying thinking about this.

Wouldn't you rather have the memory of your entire life with all of it's achievements and failures rather than have nothing? It's easy to say that when you die you'll remember none of it at all, but while you're alive wouldn't it be best to be able to remember the happy times, so to speak? To grasp the fruits of your labor. If we're going to die, we might as well enjoy life as it is.