still be recognized as very much the same person by those who knew you
Yes or no, will those who knew them be able to pick them out blind out of a group going only on text-based communication? If not, what do you mean by recognize? (If yes, I’ll be surprised and will need to reevaluate this.)
If memory is crucial to pattern identity then which has the greater claim to identity: The amnesiac police officer, or his 20 years of dashcam footage and activity logs?
The officer can’t work if they’re completely amnesiac. They can’t do much of anything, in fact.
As to your main point: it’s possible that personality changes remain after memory loss, but those personalities are themself caused by experiences and memories. I suppose I was assuming that memory wiped would wash away any recognizable personality. I still do. The kinds of amnesia you’re referring to presumably leave traces of the memory somewhere in the brain, which then affects the brain’s outputs. Unless we can access the brain directly and wipe it ourself, we can’t guarantee everything was forgotten, and it probably does linger on in the subconscious; so that’s not the same as an actual memory wipe.
I believe there is a functional definition of amnesia, loss of factual memory, life skills remain intact. I guess I would call what you are calling a memory wipe a “brain wipe”. I guess I’d call what you are calling memory “total brain content”. If a brain is wiped of all content in the forest is Usul’s idea of consciousness spared? No idea. Total brain reboot? I’d say yes and call that good as dead I think.
I would say probably yes to the text only question. Again, loss of factual memory. But I don’t rate that as a reliable or valid test in this context.
Yes or no, will those who knew them be able to pick them out blind out of a group going only on text-based communication? If not, what do you mean by recognize? (If yes, I’ll be surprised and will need to reevaluate this.)
The officer can’t work if they’re completely amnesiac. They can’t do much of anything, in fact.
As to your main point: it’s possible that personality changes remain after memory loss, but those personalities are themself caused by experiences and memories. I suppose I was assuming that memory wiped would wash away any recognizable personality. I still do. The kinds of amnesia you’re referring to presumably leave traces of the memory somewhere in the brain, which then affects the brain’s outputs. Unless we can access the brain directly and wipe it ourself, we can’t guarantee everything was forgotten, and it probably does linger on in the subconscious; so that’s not the same as an actual memory wipe.
I believe there is a functional definition of amnesia, loss of factual memory, life skills remain intact. I guess I would call what you are calling a memory wipe a “brain wipe”. I guess I’d call what you are calling memory “total brain content”. If a brain is wiped of all content in the forest is Usul’s idea of consciousness spared? No idea. Total brain reboot? I’d say yes and call that good as dead I think.
I would say probably yes to the text only question. Again, loss of factual memory. But I don’t rate that as a reliable or valid test in this context.