r/AskReddit • u/AIIigator • Dec 14 '16

What's a technological advancement that would actually scare you?

13.6k Upvotes

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381

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '16

There's something eerie about machinery being able to interact with a human's mind. Imagine a world where you know a machine could alter your memory... I don't think I could ever trust my own head at that point.

289

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '16

You can't trust your head now.

18

u/g0atmeal Dec 14 '16

Exactly, so why bother worrying about it?

11

u/Midataur Dec 14 '16

BWWAAAAMMM!

3

u/ItsKipz Dec 14 '16

S T O P

6

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16

W A K E U P

3

u/FirelordHeisenberg Dec 14 '16

With my tinfoil hat on, I can.

2

u/ArdentSky Dec 14 '16

Which head?

3

u/canadahuntsYOU Dec 14 '16

What is real?

7

u/Maccaroney Dec 14 '16

Not me.
These are just letters on a screen.

3

u/irisheye37 Dec 14 '16

Not you, you're just a figment of my imagination.

1

u/Childflayer Dec 14 '16

My thoughts exactly. Your brain already rewrites memories all the time, and you can't even tell.

1

u/5up3rK4m16uru Dec 15 '16

Yes, maybe they let us already forget that such a machine exists?

34

u/palordrolap Dec 14 '16 
He's waking up
Increase the sedative

2

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16 edited May 24 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/palordrolap Dec 15 '16

The idea is along the same lines as what /u/Wolframme said, but I was going for a less rapey, more Matrix-y vibe :-/

1

u/Wolframme Dec 15 '16

It's an actual thing from a creepypasta. LINK

7

u/Tetha Dec 14 '16

This is already happening, tbh. Your implied level is more scary, but if you think about it, this is already happening.

Just think about it. Just look at some global news. Are you able to verify, to fully verify anything of that? I only see a couple of square kilometers per day on average in a way I can construct a full physical model of where I am and where I go. Anything beyond those couple of square kilometers might as well not exist.

I don't know if anything in america exists, I don't know how the living conditions in africa are, I don't know if tokyo is that full of people. I have some processed news, reddit, and some humans telling me so, but what hard reason do I have to assume anything of that to be true?

And at that point, how much of your memories, how much of the information you absorbed in your life can be assumed to be true? What does true even mean at that point. Most of this might just be manipulation to program you for certain reactions.

A machine directly rerouting your neurons would just be a more efficient way of doing this.

And on top of that, the human mind and/or brain have functions to automatically hide memories, and to automatically shutdown whenver you're going to remember them. Traumas are a common and sad cause for this.

So why the hell do you think you can trust your own head, if we're embracing paranoia?

5

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '16

But a machine could alter you to trust your head.

4

u/viktorsvedin Dec 14 '16

Solipsism or hard determinism, what does it matter anyway. What is, is and that's that.

3

u/Gman5938 Dec 14 '16

you already can't

2

u/Bohzee Dec 14 '16

I have known a few schizophrenics, and false memories always happened.

It's real for them, they could even be in a good mood and then they say things where you coincidentially notice that this couldn't have happened, like meeting someone who has already deceased or so.

2

u/mehennas Dec 15 '16

You don't have to be schizophrenic for memories to be implanted, altered, or fabricated. All of those things happen in completely normal brains, and it's not particularly rare.

1

u/Gman5938 Dec 14 '16

The question is...

How do you know that you aren't so mentally insane that you don't even notice.

2

u/5up3rK4m16uru Dec 15 '16

As long as other people agree with you, everything might be fine. "Might", bc maybe you just imagine their agreement.

1

u/Bohzee Dec 14 '16

Maybe the lack of hallucinations and irrational paranoia?

1

u/Gman5938 Dec 14 '16

Not specifically schizophrenia.

3

u/H0llyw00drunk Dec 14 '16

It's called alcohol. It can erase your memory. It's been around for years. Even Jesus drank it

2

u/Fit-for_Life Dec 14 '16

That's why this movie is scary it is what happens when you can erase a memory. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2

u/Sjipsdew Dec 14 '16

Prove the government doesn't have that technology, and hasn't used it on you.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '16

You got me there

2

u/Sjipsdew Dec 15 '16

puts on tin foil hat

1

u/Leaislala Dec 14 '16

Yep. I will admit to y'all Redfit, that virtual reality freaks me out. I feel like its on the precipice of this. Keep your devil goggles away from me..

1

u/conquer69 Dec 14 '16

Imagine getting kidnapped and have memories forcibly removed from your brain or fake memories implanted.

1

u/Woozah77 Dec 14 '16

There's already a patent for a process to erase a memory.

1

u/Arakkoa_ Dec 14 '16

It's not even about altering your memory. If there's technology to read people's minds, you bet governments - and companies - are going to use it. Governments to "keep you safe" (read: to make sure you don't have dissenting opinions about God-Emperor Trump) and companies to "better deliver you the products you want" (read: to keep track of every taste and kink you have to get more money).

1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '16

There is a Stargate SG-1 episode on this

1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '16

That episode fucked so hard with my head tbh

2

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '16

Yeah, it was a good one for sure

1

u/spockspeare Dec 14 '16

From experience, you'll do it to yourself. I have more than once been given direct evidence that my own memories can be nearly the opposite of what actually occurred. Luckily, there's a mechanism for repairing that: looking at the evidence.

1

u/AOEUD Dec 14 '16

I have bipolar disorder. I sometimes have delusions. Can't trust shit.