Ok I'm not sure this is in the right area or anything so feel free to move it, slap me around, call me names and burn down my house if it's not.

However here's a little hypothetical.

Say you had to undergo an operation. You had a choice, take an anesthetic and not feel anything but you run say a 50% of coming out of it worse off because of the anesthetic. Some form of permanent disability
OR
You undergo the operation. Take the pain associated with it, and lets say its fairly large amounts of pain, so think of the most agonizing operation you know and make it that one, but at the end of it, Someone wipes your memory of the whole thing ever taking place.

So which would you choose and why?

My choice:
Given the situation I think my actions would be alot different to what I say now, however I would like to believe that I'd go with memory wiping.
Pain, pleasure, guilty and happiness are all just memories, as is life (or so goes my personal belief) so to not have a memory of it, means that it never existed. So how could I remember the agonizing pain and realize how bad it was.
If that makes any sense whatsoever

In the tradition of my History and philosophy of Science lecturer
Thoughts? Comments? Observations?

I would never want anyone to mess with my head! All memories painfull or not are part of my life and i wouldn't wanna loose them!!! it's better to have bad memories than none at all! that's my opinion!

I would choose the first. I would just plain refuse to do it and feel all the pain.

Given that this is a purely hypothetical situation, it's really hard to imagine how it would really feel like to be faced with these choices. I'm gonna say I'll take the pain, and not run the risk for a permanent disability.

Ill take the 2nd one. I can take pain- and anyway, physical pain (surgical) is for the most part, temporary. Disabilities, in this case, are permanent. And i dont care if i dont remember the surgery. Oh well? =|

Well its interesting, because one could argue the point that your memory might have already been tampered with, but of course you wouldn't know unless someone showed you something to prove it :P

But yeah given the situation actually arose I think all of our actions would be different to what we profess to here

Actually, I would want to remember the surgery, if it really were to happen. I mean, I already suffered through so much pain, I'd prefer to remember it.

I'm not gonna call you a bitch, or do anything to your house or anything like that...

Just tell me how this is a debate?

In any way?

At all?

I'll say feet and hands.

why not just have the pain, but not the memory wipe. Because memory of pain doesn't hurt. Five minutes after the pain is gone you can't imagine it anymore and it didn't really seem like much. sure at the time its bad, but for some reason human's don't remember how painful things are very well...

Head: Yeah well thats why i had all the burning house thingy and all because I wasn't exactly certain as where to put this. Feel free to move it.

why not just have the pain, but not the memory wipe. Because memory of pain doesn't hurt. Five minutes after the pain is gone you can't imagine it anymore and it didn't really seem like much. sure at the time its bad, but for some reason human's don't remember how painful things are very well...
If that is true, then explain to me why, when I get memories (flashbacks) or dreams (nightmares) of certain past experiences, I hurt exactly as I once did (when it really happened), but am not physically injured?

If that is true, then explain to me why, when I get memories (flashbacks) or dreams (nightmares) of certain past experiences, I hurt exactly as I once did (when it really happened), but am not physically injured?

meh, i dunno.... drugs maybe?? haha! just kidding!!!

i don't know, but that does sound strange. it's like a known fact (well i thought pretty well known) that humans don't remember pain as vivedly as when it actually hapens. Sure you remeber it hurt, and sorta remember the feeling but because we don't actually remember the agony we go back and do more stupid things and get ourselves hurt more and more cos we never learn.

meh, i dunno.... drugs maybe?? haha! just kidding!!!

i don't know, but that does sound strange. it's like a known fact (well i thought pretty well known) that humans don't remember pain as vivedly as when it actually hapens. Sure you remeber it hurt, and sorta remember the feeling but because we don't actually remember the agony we go back and do more stupid things and get ourselves hurt more and more cos we never learn.
Because the subconscious, I believe, remembers everything, and that's where my dreams and flashbacks surface from.

I don't know about any proven "facts" as far as that goes.

Maybe I really don't remember exactly how painful it was, just think I do. Hahaha.

I'd rather go with the second one..though I'd prefer to not have to choose either. My reason? Lets see..have a permanent disability or be able to live the rest of your life relatively normal..I choose choice B, it just makes more sense to me.

I think I could go through the pain, I'd probably cry the whole time during the surgery, but at least I wouldn't remember it. Though I'm not sure if thats entirely true..nightmares..oi..

This is really interesting to me. Because obviously alot of you value your memories alot more than your physical situation and that just intrigues me.
I'm of the belief that our lives that we lead or merely a series of memories and to have your memory fully wiped means you have not lived a life at all. But still I would be hesistant to cripple the rest of my life for the stake of one painful memory, but i can fully understand the argument for being anesthetised.

I'll take the pain but before i'd drink a bottle of vodka :)

I'd take the pain , but I won't want the memory wipe. the pain is only going to be for a short while, but I won't want a disablility that would be there for the rest of my life.