Epistemology and Memory Implants

I think it is safe that in my lifetime they’ll be able to implant memories in your head, thereby retaining knowledge that was never learned. Imagine if you could know the entire Bible in seconds without having to read it. Theoretically they could do something that would transpose a memory of reading the whole thing. Something like this could revolutionize education. Someone could learn an curriculum in a matter of seconds. Things like folders, notebooks, and pencils would be obsolete. Childhood would be geared more towards social interaction and discovery.

But then there is the issue of epistemology. If someone had a memory implant of reading a book ten times, so they know it be heart, do they really know it? Can knowledge only exist as a true experience, or can artificial means be a way to do it as well? A perfect example of this is the rise of audiobooks. If you listen to audiobooks, they can give you the same knowledge that the book can give you but in vocal format. But, if you listen to an audiobook and drift off to sleep, you really aren’t learning anything. You must listen to the audiobook to give it weight. And then there is the issue of reading and listening along at the same time, but drifting away with other thoughts. This happens to be all the time. I figure, “I’ll use the book AND audiobook to remember things better!” Then I start to do so and my mind drifts, and only about half of my attention is on the book. Did I really remember anything? And if your brain can only store a finite amount of information, would brain implants be harmful to the individual? (This sounds like an episode of Black Mirror.)

New information must be assimilated. During assimilation, the relevance of the information to existing concerns and priorities is considered and stored in terms of PHT, Perception of Hope and/or Threat. If such assimilation is also implanted, the person is not merely updated with information but programmed such as to behave as required. And in that case, you are talking about transforming people into programmed drones. And yes, such a practice is already heavily in use.

We’re getting there, but we’re not quite there yet.

Resistance is futile. :evilfun: