would you go through with the procedure?

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

if you could have a specific memory deleted... would you?

A specific memory of my choice? If it is one that makes me a traumatized person that suffers dearly from that and is handicapped from it severly in managing my daily life - yes. Assuming of course that removal of the meory of the traumatizing event means relief from the consequences of traumatization (and that is not necessarily so linear a link as one might think). Under certain circumstances, I think that is a non-brainer. It's like asking whether one would have a cancer-infested kidney removed if that extends your life expectancy and relieves you from serious pain in the destroyed organ.

But it should not become a tool of ordinary everyday comfort-craving action. The usual negative experiences we colect in life also define us and make us what we are - in good, and in bad. The idea of the story is a somewhat extreme tool, and I think it should be reserved for extreme situations.

For the record, it seems to be unlikely that the brain is functioning the way the hypothetical articles implies.