ABOQ 4

[Alastor]

Do not attempt to "outsmart" the question. This isn't a riddle. It's designed to help discover our nature. Answer the question the way it is intended.

If you could spend one year in perfect happiness but afterward would remember nothing of the experience, would you do so? Why?

What's more important? Actual experiences or memories of the experience once it's over?

[Freet]

Interesting question Alastor.

Yes, I would certainly do this, but keep in mind that, due to an unfortunate childhood experience, I have an extremely poor memory anyway. I don't remember the majority of my history now. So no big loss for me.

[Vmag]

That is an interesting question, and one that I've often used alongside questions of the Hereafter.

Take, for instance, the possibility of multiple lives. If you're sitting here, right now, and wondering about multiple lives, a cycle of death, rebirth, etc., and wondering what it could Be like, well, who is to say that it hasn't already Been? If the entire point of such a system is that you continue to be born, then it is entirely possible that you already have been dead a few times before.

However, all we know of is this present. Is that to say, then, that this present will somehow, someday, as well be entirely forgotten? That is a little difficult to comprehend; "I think, therefore I am," after all, and I think now, in the present, and cannot conceive any other time but now. It is hard to imagine that these memories that I live out so easily can be someday nonexistent, with another set of memories in its place.

Simple cut-paste solution to this being the only one? or perhaps these memories are simply the predominant because they are the Last? You could also say that the life spent as a little girl never thought it'd memories would be completely invalidated, either.

[Fargo]

Yes, considering my chaotic life thus far. Even if I couldn't remember the event, I would be more mentally "at peace" with myself. That's well worth the empty year of my life. What's the point of living longer if you aren't happy? That being said, choosing my time of death in relation to my happiness is not something I'd ever consider.

[Diesel]

I would do so, simply because I have nothing to lose from doing it. I'd probably be relatively depressed for the rest of my life anyway if I remembered it, wanting to go back and all.

[Stevurn]

Well, as time passes, memories distort, whether through a lack of recollection of the events, or a change of perception due to other experiences you've had later on. So, is your past actually the past? Perhaps not.

Besides, with memories, you often want to relive the nostalgia, which is almost never satisfying or quite the same, which is a huge letdown.

So in that case, i'd say experiences are more important than memories, because who knows whether your memories are even true? Besides, you should always be looking towards the future, otherwise you'd be stuck in limbo.

So, yeah, i'd do this.