Take a moment, if you will, to identify your dearest, most precious memory. It can be the moment you first met the woman you would marry, or the day you gave birth to your firstborn child, or the time you realized that your brother, reported dead on the battlefield, was in fact alive and well. If you can’t choose a single happiest memory because there are two or three top contenders, that’s fine. Take your time; I’m need to get this strawberry shortcake out of the oven.
Okay, I’m back. Chosen your happiest memory or memories? Good, because Rhymer Enterprises would like to buy it from it. By technomagic means, we can probe your engrams for the memory that has the most profound and delightful emotional meaning to you, record it, and transfer it to another person, who will henceforth feel the joy and contentment that memory arouses in you (and who will naturally have to pay through the nose for the privilege). This process won’t cause you to lose the memory in question, but it will erase all the emotional impact it previously had for you. You’ll retain the knowledge of the simple fact of the incident in question, but recalling won’t make you even smile any more.
Any takers? If yes, what’s the memory you’re willing to sell, and how much is it worth?
I have hundreds, thousands of wonderful memories, and I would not trade a one of them for an age reduction that would give me 50 years more of youthful life in the times that are to come, in which most of them could be impossible to match . As for “selling” a memory, I have more money than I will ever need, and no part of my past nor future life is for sale…
My brain does this to me already. I have very few memories, and almost no emotions associated with any of them. I can recall feeling good at the time, but I don’t do that “fondly reminiscing” thing much.
So, I dunno…$50,000? I don’t want to underbid anyone. Sounds like Rhymer Enterprises values this way more than I do. So I’ll lob a couple extra zeroes on there for an opening bid, but there’s a lot of room for bargaining. Catch me just before payday and I’d probably take $50.
Maybe we could work out a percentage deal. I’ll take 60% of what you’re charging the person who’s receiving the memory.
Nope, couldn’t do it. It would feel as if I were betraying the people who gave me the memories, and since some of those people have passed away, I could never, ever hope to regain the moments.
Obviously we’re going to resell it. If some friendless virgin billionaire wants to pay $100,000 to remember falling in love for the first time, we’re not paying YOU more than $25K. We have overhead, after all.
ETA: As for your 60% proposal: I remind you that we’re criminals. We could just TAKE what we want.
Pretty much this. I’m young enough that I’ll make new memories.
Or you can have just the best one for a cool million or so. Am I to assume you have some technology for determining that the one selected is, in fact, my happiest? I can’t throw out my last dental appointment or something? Also, if I tell you that my wedding was my happiest but your brain scan actually identifies some fling in my younger days, will you promise not to tell my wife?
If the going rate is more in the $50k range then I’d probably opt out unless we’re talking about very specific memories (say, one particular part of my wedding).
Wouldn’t likely work for them. Requires far too many particulars to make it work for them. In other words transferring the memories in isolation most certainly wouldn’t be enough-you’d have to transfer the impact prior life experiences have had on me, the nature of my psyche at the time, the contemplative mood that took me at that moment and led to said event-and the fact that it was my choice which was ultimately the key.
Without this intricate backing web of specificities to give the experience in question a solid foundation and specific character, it wouldn’t have anywhere the same kind of impact for anyone else.
My favorite happy memory was due to such an improbable confluence of coincidences that nothing like it could ever occur again. Sorry, it’s not for sale.
I dunno. Ten thousand? There’s no memories I’m particularly tied to. If you take one happy memory, there’s a bunch of others that will fill its place just fine.
I’m with WhyNot I don’t really have emotions tied to my memories on the other hand 6 million will allow my wife and I to retire now and enjoy the rest of our lives creating new happy memories.
