Computer Assisted Memory
Computer Assisted Memory
Computer assisted memory is a recent goal, in that the very idea itself didn't crop up until we started pretty much practicing it anyway. We started uploading family photos to Flickr and burning our home movies to DVD and now that we've pretty much started doing it already, we want to go farther. From the still far-off goal of silicon enhanced artificial neurons, to the shaky present-day experiments already underway that simply photograph your days and archive them in searchable databases - computer assisted memory, in one shape or another, is going to happen.
How This Will Change The World:
What if you could remember everything? No foreign language would ever get rusty, no keys would ever be lost, no anniversary would ever be forgotten and hastily covered for by purchasing last minute gifts at the gas station. That could all happen with the complete archival of actual memories on an external system. Just imagine it: Terrabytes of storage, and nothing ever forgotten. Wisdom, after all, is little more than the possession of a larger database of memories from which to draw, so picture a world where simply purchasing a new hard drive puts you on par with the Dalai Llama. With an archival memory system, even death wouldn't be the end; your every thought and memory could be accessed by anybody, anywhere, forever. You could have Einstein on a thumb drive to browse through when bored. No genius, artist or visionary would ever be truly lost again.
How This Will End The World:
Where did I put my keyring? That had my flashdrive on it with 2017. That was the year I moved into my new house.
And... oh, goddammit. That was also the year I started using the artificial memory system - that was the year I chose the password...
Goddammit! Joni! Joni have you seen my keyring?
J-Joni? Wait, where's my house? Why am I living at the YMCA? Am I divorced?"
With an artificial memory system, one unlucky day turns you into the guy from Memento, and since we lost the hard drive that remembers pop culture references for us, we're pretty sure that guy turned out just fine--so everything's cool, homey!
Want to be Internet famous? Cracked can help! Just go here and sign up. No experience necessary.See what other experiments science is conducting that Brockway thinks will destroy us, in The 5 Current Genetic Experiments Most Likely to Destroy Humanity. Or check out how science is trying to turn our lives into a Marvel movie, in 5 Superpowers Science Will Give Us in Our Lifetime.And swing by our Top Picks to see us trying to wrestle Swaim away from the office's new flame drill.Don't forget to follow us on Twitter to get previews of upcoming articles and trick your friends into thinking you're psychic.
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