this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
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Would You Rather

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Welcome to c/WouldYouRather, where we present you with the toughest, most ridiculous choices you never knew you had to make! Would you rather have a third arm that's only useful for picking your nose, or be able to talk to animals but only if they're wearing hats? Yeah, it's that kind of vibe. Come for the absurdity, stay because you've clearly got nothing better to do with your life.

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would you rather be tortured for an hour and but have your memory of that hour wiped later, or be tortured for a minute but have lucidity and good memory of it later? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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fucked up question, I know - but ultimately it's a question about suffering and experience of personhood - did "you" really experience the torture for an hour if you don't remember it later?

What about the hour where you were awake and present, before the memory is wiped? How much does that suffering matter? Does the fact that after the torture you won't remember override the suffering you will experience in the present during the torture, relative to suffering you will remember the rest of your life?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I may be mistaken, but isn't the first what basically happens during surgery? Though I think it's more along the lines of anesthesia prevents the formation of memories. Potato potato.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

no, that's not how anaesthesia works - anaesthesia actually blocks the nerve signals communicating pain from getting to the brain in the first place, you never have the experiences to later forget

[–] [email protected] 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Fun stuff, Drugs. There are a few different drugs given for surgery.

Paralytics to keep you from moving. Blockers to prevent pain. And midazolam (a benzodiazepine) to help prevent the formation of memories.

General anesthesia is a cocktail of drugs, not just one.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 23 hours ago

true, and there is more than one kind of anaesthesia - I should have clarified I meant with typical general anaesthesia when drugs like propofol are used.

There are exceptions to the rule, but in general it's not true that during surgery you experience everything and then just don't remember later because of the drugs.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

No, this is a misconception of how twilight anaesthesia works.