If there was a way to 'wipe' a person's mind...

[PoRiRam]

• Would that make them immune to any past crimes a person has committed in their life?

I was on another thread and I thought of that. What if there was a way to basically restart a person using whatever sciences there were, erasing them of any and all previous personalities. It's kind of like killing them but creating a new person at the same time. Would you be okay with them being excused for previous crimes? I'm not sure if I would be.

 

[RingoBerry]

I think that will be a little complicated. Lets say we do have the technology that is capable of something like that and the experts on that particular method manage to alter a former criminal's personality. But this means needing to delete his memories, alter his physical appearance and remove every information that can lead to his past just for this one person to start a new life. But what about other people that knew everything about him, should their memories be altered to? What about the criminal's relatives?

Aside from all those things I mentioned above, we also need to think of other possible issues. If there is a machine that can reset people, its not impossible to come up with another machine capable of reversing the process. And using that invention as a base for something else say... a device that can extract and translate memories into actual data. Imagine the harm a thing like that can be used for. So my answer is a NO to both the invention and messing with people's brains.

 

[missbishi]

PoRiRam, your thoughts remind me of Alex in Clockwork Orange! There is certainly validity in this idea - I'm sure there are many people who have been through traumatic experiences who would love to have these memories erased. But the cons far outweigh the pros. If a persons memories were deleted, they would have to re-learn everything all over again. Even things like tying shoelaces and how to wash the dishes! The person would have no idea how to behave in any situation either - all their prior learning would be gone. What about the precious memories they held? OK, they say we are all born as a blank canvas, but being in this state in later life doesn't soundlike a good idea at all.