Thread of Questions

POSTED BY: Aprilise
UPDATED: Thursday, January 11, 2007 16:31
VIEWED: 3478
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APRILISE

Saturday, January 6, 2007 6:19 AM

All questions that appear in this thread (and if i continue it other threads) come from The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock

So I found a copy of this book and thought it'd be interesting to see how people respond to the questions.

There is only 1 rule and it's simple common sense but still Please respect others opinions even if you disagree.

We'll start with this one.

#4 If you could spend one year in perfect happiness but afterward would remember nothing of the experience would you do so? If not, why not?

April

PHOENIXROSE

Saturday, January 6, 2007 6:55 AM

Sure I would. I mean, I'd prefer to be able to remember, but it's still a year of perfect happiness. Happiness is too precious to say no to, I think. Now if you had said "Would you want a year of perfect happiness if for the rest of your life you would be miserable?" I would say no.

[]

KAYLEEGIRL

Saturday, January 6, 2007 6:59 AM

I wouldn't. What would be the point? If I didn't remember any of it, it would not exist for me. And if other people kept telling me it was such a shame that I didn't remember how happy I'd been -- well, wouldn't that just be the most frustrating and depressing thing!

Of course, the notion of a perfect anything doesn't make sense to me because of my leanings toward Taoism. I believe the wheel keeps turning and to have balance there must be a little bad in the good and a little good in the bad. That's as close to perfection as we can get.

(By the way, cool thread!)

NAVYSEILS

Saturday, January 6, 2007 3:57 PM

I definetly would, I could use a year of bliss. Even if I forget it all, the relief would probably be worth it while it lasts. I'm not going to remember it if I do it or not, so I might as well take advantage of the offer.

AURAPTOR

Saturday, January 6, 2007 4:00 PM

#4 If you could spend one year in perfect happiness but afterward would remember nothing of the experience would you do so? If not, why not?

I think that's called 'college', only it lasted for 4 years, not just one.

People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy. - Joss

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

ASORTAFAIRYTALE

Saturday, January 6, 2007 8:49 PM

I would too. So what if you can't remember it later? You'd still get to be happy for a while, and it would be good not to be worried and unhappy for a whole year. Also, you often forget things in time anyway, this would just be forgetting faster.

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Love keeps her in the air when she outta fall down, tells you she's hurting before she keels. Makes her a home.

CAUSAL

Saturday, January 6, 2007 11:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Aprilise:
#4 If you could spend one year in perfect happiness but afterward would remember nothing of the experience would you do so? If not, why not?

No way, Jose. Because who we are is the aggregate of where we've been and the lessons we've learned from what we've experienced. If I have to data dump an entire year, happy or not, I'm sacrificing one heck of a lot of life. A whole year! Eesh, it creeps me out just thinkin' about it.

On an unrelated note, this is fun! Let's do more!

________________________________________________________________________
Grand High Poobah of the Mythical Land of Iowa, and Keeper of State Secrets

I wish I had a magical wish-granting plank.

Vote Firefly! http://www.richlabonte.net/tvvote/index.html

APRILISE

Sunday, January 7, 2007 8:05 AM

I would take the year of happiness. After all, no one ever knows what the future will hold. I could have the year of perfect happiness then die on the way home. I could spend the year perfectly happy then hit my head on something and develop amnesia. You never know. You should always live in the moment.

This is fun. and I plan to continue...in fact I'll start right now with a follow up question to this one.

Which is more important: actual experiences or the memories that remain when the experiences are over?

For me the answer would be the actual experiences, memories will fade.

April

Expect a completely new question either tomorrow or monday afternoon

DONCOAT

Sunday, January 7, 2007 4:12 PM

The actual experiences are fine and dandy, but without the memories they might as well have never happened at all. And in some cases, not having memories of one's experiences would be downright dangerous.

Simple example: let's say that the experience in question was having an affair with a married woman. Might be a nice thing... but then, if I forgot that she had a very big, very violent husband, I could be in real trouble. Similarly, what if I later exhibited certain symptoms, but ignored them because I had no memory of any exposure to that type of disease transmission?

Life without memory can be a very strange thing. Certain injuries and diseases can leave a person with no mechanism for forming long-term memories. In essence, their knowledge of themselves and their surroundings just stops at a certain point. Every day, every hour, is like the very first hour since their deficit occurred.

I saw a documentary once that showed such a case. The man was a musician and symphony conductor before his illness. He was still a fine musician and could play pieces from sheet music or those he'd memorized before the illness. He could still conduct brilliantly. But he was institutionalized. He couldn't function in the real world. If you were introduced to him, he would greet you warmly and converse fairly normally, but if you left his presence for a few minutes and then came in again, it was just as if he'd never met you before.

Don't underestimate the importance of memory. It's a critical part of what makes us who we are.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm pointin' right at it!

LITTLEALBATROSS29

Sunday, January 7, 2007 4:32 PM

I completely agree. Our memory is what makes us well, us.

Not to mention that if I were to say yes to a not remembering I have the feeling I would come away from that year pregnant & not know why creepy.

Bryce
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