May 162012
 

A common enough element in science fiction tales is an elixir, a virus, a genetic therapy, a magic ray that will turn an old person young.

Now, if there were such a treatment, and it was reliable, safe and even remotely affordable for your average billionaire, it would be fabulously popular. Few enough people want to get old; many would want to live a long, long time young and healthy. But every now and then a sci-fi story about this youthenizing treatment has a wrinkle: the process wipes the brain clean.

So, assume this: a month in a tank of magical goop will turn an 80-year-old into a 20-year-old, free of all diseases and physical damage… but with all memories erased, and the brain sorta “reset” to a blank stage. Maybe retaining the ability to walk and talk and eat and such, but the person is *gone* and irretrievable.

Discuss: who the hell would go through with this? What would be the advantage of restoring yourself to youth if in the process, “you” go away?

 Posted by at 12:00 pm