By Steve Ramirez

WHAT IF WE CAN ERASE MEMORIES AT WILL?

Review by Gunnel Minett

When we talk about memories, we may think of it as some form of archive, perhaps with neatly labelled storage boxes which can be taken out and examined. But as this book describes, this is not at all the case. In reality memories, once they are stored in our mind, are more like a ‘soup’ of mixed glimpses of the past, images, impressions, associations along with our emotional reactions to them in a messy mixture that plays a big part in forming our identity. In reality memories are fluid, change over time, can be erased, reactivated, and even falsely implanted. Still we seem to be able to pick out memories and assemble them into a coherent and accurate account of something we have experienced in our lives. 

Some memories are unwanted. For people who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder it may be a wonderful thing to be able to erase the memories of a traumatic event that keeps haunting them, long after the traumatic event. But what would it mean if such memories could be simply erased? Would that mean that the PTSD is gone for good? Or would it leave a gap which might cause confusion or trauma of its own because we can no longer associate it with emotional remnants of a traumatic event? What about any useful learning which may be involved in the traumatic despite causing bad memories? The more we try to imagine the effects of an erased memory, the more questions arise.

How memories work is what this book is about. Scientists are trying to understand exactly how memories are formed and are even experimenting with the possibility of artificially erasing or altering memories with the help of drugs or other manipulations. Will this become a good alternative to psychotherapy to simply erase or alter memories?

Most of psychotherapy is aimed at helping a person to deal with their past. Consequently, it’s  well established that changing our memories of the past may have an overall positive effect on our psyche. But would artificially erasing or altering memories have the same healing effect as the therapeutic process of trying to understand the past and therefore changing our the memories? 

Will it transform an obsessive line of thought or association into a new and more positive mental state?

The author provides a personal example of trauma: he experienced the terrorist bombing during the Boston marathon in 2013. It left him with very traumatic memories which he struggled to come to terms with. However, despite all his knowledge of memories and how to possibly erase them, he questions whether he would apply memory eradication to himself. He writes about his trauma of 2013: “It’s part of my experience and identity, whether I like it or not. My memories are me, regardless of what kinds of memories they were in the first place.” (p.87) His conclusion is that even bad memories can be good learning experiences and form part of who we are, even if they have negative origins. The key instead to try to ensure that the memories we make, if not good, are at least tolerable.

The book also asks questions such as; “What if memories simply can’t be erased? What if their supposed absence is one of the greatest magic tricks the brain can play on us? In fact, emerging research points in this direction, revealing that memories are never really truly gone, they may just need to be ‘hot-wired’ back to life. The brain – the grandest magician of them all.”(p88)

In summary the book opens up a number of issues to reflect on in connection with this new area of neuroscience research. Throughout the book Ramirez illustrates this with his own personal journey to establish himself in this field of research. As part of this journey, he carefully considers the ethics of artificially controlling memory, exploring how we might use this tool responsibly, both for personal healing and for the greater good. 

Princeton University Press, USA, 2025, ISBN: 978-1472141743