Ranvir Thapar - Blog 4 Week 13 - Reverse
Would you rather lose the ability to make new memories or forget all your memories up until this point in your life? I came across the question during my daily doom scroll session of instagram reels and I was struck by the depth of the question. For 20 minutes I sat there weighing the pros and cons, the effects and ramifications it would have on my future.
The academic asian in me was the first to react. He was conflicted. Up until now my memories held knowledge enough for a junior to graduate high school, but beyond that I possessed no special talents to make it for myself in the real world. He opted to make new memories because I could always relearn what has been taught in school and to be a successful first born child and make my parents proud, I need to have a complete education.
Then came the sentimentalist. He recognized that up until this point, I have lived my life with minimal regrets. I’ve done almost everything I’ve wanted to, I’ve had good times and bad, and I’ve learned from it all. The memories are what made everyone's experiences worth it. That feeling when she rested on my right shoulder, the weight of her body against mine, her hair tickling my cheek when I’m fighting against all odds to stay as still as possible because in that moment everything was perfect (this is my dream never happened, but I don’t want to forget that I want this to happen 😝). I don’t want to forget all the times where I’ve hunched over laughing, my stomach aching because I can’t take in a proper breath. The beautiful mountains and waterfalls I’ve seen as I’ve backpacked through terrain untouched by human desire. Even the fact that my humanity comes from movies I’ve watched, the cheesy one liners I make when the silence gets too awkward.
But then I realized, life is lived forwards but is only understood in reverse. The reverse is our memories and if you can’t make memories, what’s the point? The academic asian was right in a way. The same way I can relearn math and physics, I can make new memories. Will I change, maybe? Will those memories be just as precious, who knows? The only thing I do know is that if tomorrow I woke up and I had to choose between losing all my memories or being unable to make new ones, I choose to lose my memories.
Hey Ranvir! Another mind-racking “would you rather?” question that leaves me completely stumped. Love these! I definitely agree with you; even though losing all the special moments that continue to tickle my brain years after they had happened would be quite terrible, there are years of memories to be made, a future that will be just as wonderful.
ReplyDeleteMy stance on this would probably change as I age though. Maybe once I’m halfway through my life, then this question would be a bigger dilemma. Would I be willing to give up the previous half of my existence? Or have my life basically halted, unable to move forward as the days will result in nothingness? Decisions, decisions…. Sometimes life chooses one of these options for you too! You have memory loss amnesia, where people are unable to recall details about their past. I didn’t know about this one, but while verifying my facts, I stumbled upon “Anterograde amnesia”—amnesia where you are unable to form new memories, basically the first part of your question.
Hope that dream of yours does happen one day 😛 Those dreams where everything is too good to be true—nothing hurts more than waking up from pure bliss.
Hello, Ranvir! Your blog this week was especially thought-provoking. I wholeheartedly agree with your statement that if I had to choose between losing all my memories and being unable to make any, I would choose to lose them.
ReplyDeleteLosing my memories doesn’t really matter to me, since I have a terrible sense of memory. It honestly would be better to just have to remake new memories since it's like I haven’t made any in the first place. Ignoring my perspective, it certainly is more important to make new memories. Life is about having existed, so it would naturally be more fulfilling if you can exist and experience it to the fullest. Without the capability to make new memories, what is living?
I find myself disagreeing with your distinction between two personalities; I think they do not need to be mutually exclusive. The sentimentalist may find joy in old memories, but they don’t necessarily have to fear new memories. The sentimentalist can find joy in the anticipation of new memories, while the academic may look forward to memories of success. Both can look forward to new memories, just with different motivations.
Hi Ranvir! I thought that the question posed at the beginning of your blog was very insightful and interesting. I first just wanted to say that I also get would you rather questions on my Instagram reels, but I normally get very stupid and trivial ones. For me I genuinely would not know what to do. It is within the same reasoning as yours. On one hand I learned extremely important life lessons within my sixteen years on earth, I also have some incredible (and expensive) memories and experiences with my friends, and I would not just want to forget these things. But I find the idea of being somewhat like a clean slate enticing. I would be able to do things and think about the world from a different perspective. I also understand that I am only in high school, so I have the opportunity to make better memories after this point (if I didn’t, that would sort of be like me peaking in high school). I also thought of your reverse analogy to be extremely introspective (I am a bit jealous that I did not think about it first). I always look back at moments, and each time I do, I find a different aspect that made that event so memorable. I look at things that I lost, and I remember things I lost in the trek from that moment to the present day. I tend to reminisce and ruminate quite a lot so I could go on for days about this topic. Great read!
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what choice would be made, both outcomes in this situation will end terribly.
ReplyDeleteWhile yes, choosing to forget previous memories would guarantee the ability to make more in future, it would also mean having to figure out how to rebuild oneself from scratch, having to relearn everything you already have. It means you will lose so much in the process. Every seemingly innocuous and simple action will need to be retaught and it would require endless amounts of work, similar to what people have to do when recovering from losing a limb.
In contrast, the choice to lose the ability to create new memories would mean maintaining oneself at the cost of growth. They would forever stay stuck in time, like a photograph. Without new memories, one can never experience new things, or grow. Losing the ability to make new memories mens trapping oneself for the rest of their life.