The Walking Dead - I am still on the bench about that one. I think it is well done BUT still waiting for them to royally screw it up. Of course with any comic to film adaption there are little tweaks here and there, but nothing too major yet. There is still time though, but I am impressed that after only two episodes it has been picked up for a second season.
I have watched both episodes with friends that are not Zombie experts such as myself and they are enthralled with it. I was surprised. I love my friends but they have yet to grasp my love and affection for Zombies. They just do not understand the fascination. I can't really say I can explain it either, but it is there.
Enough of that though, I want to get into where my Zombie ramblings took me today. I happened across a news story today that said the people at John Hopkins have figured out away to permanently remove memories - particularly traumatic ones. Of course, they are aiming this at PTSD survivors (mainly Vets). As I listened and read more about this new discovery I could not help but feel ill at ease. To put it bluntly - screwing with the brain is just dangerous.
We only use around 10% of our brains and scientists are still not sure how that 10% works let alone the other 90%. Doctors still cannot explain Zombie-ism to a plausible point. I have been through traumatic events and have been diagnosed with PTSD, but I am not for this kind of treatment - even in extreme cases.
Memories make us who we are and each seed of memory grows attaching other memories and people with it. Sometimes these memories are good, some bad. What basically makes me uncomfortable about this is the fact that a section of a persons life will be missing. What if you met your best friend in the whole world OR the love of your life OR found a pet Zombie during a very traumatic event? You have this event removed then you have a blank spot in your history. You have people around you that you will have no explanation for them being in your life. You have an injury, a burn, or a missing limb with no explanation on how you got that way. You run into someone who has no idea you had the memory removed and they bring it up thinking you've lost your mind when you tell them you don't remember what they are speaking of. You have a pet Zombie in the back that you don't know about now and he shrivels up and dies from hunger or breaks loose killing your puppy Fluffy and your neighbor Florence. These things can happen. Do we lie to these people after they have their memory erased?
You can remove the memory from your brain but not from the people around you. The people around you still have the memory. Someone slips up when you ask a question or get confused, then what? You spaz because you can not remember what a person is referring too or you get ostracized because other people may be speaking of "it" or something relating to "it" and hush up when you come near. There are just too many variables for anyone to be okay with this.
Then I wondered - what happens if they mess up and remove the wrong thing? Is it gone forever or is it like a computer hard-drive where it can still be recovered but it is going to take some serious work? Can you imagine waking up still remembering the traumatic event but forgetting how to take a leak? Also, I can't help but wonder if a person has to go in for multiple treatments to have traumatic events removed from their psyche, will it cause damage? Anyone ever watch Heroes? Remember Claire's (the cheerleader) mom? The Haitian erased bits and pieces of her memory so many times that she ended up with a brain hematoma. What if by erasing one memory you triggered another one? The questions could go on and on. The answers I am finding unfortunately is that these are all risks, but they need to be taken in order to achieve the end result.
It really boils down to personal choice. Everyone's traumatic event is not the same as others. Some people handle traumatic events better and are able to move on, compartmentalize, and succeed in leading a semi-normal life. I also have seen the ones who have not been able to do any of this. They are locked in their memories and do not respond to any form of treatment. Again, it is a personal choice, but one that should not be taken lightly or hastily.
