
Memories Can Be Injected and Survive Amputation and Metamorphosis - howsilly
http://nautil.us/blog/memories-can-be-injected-and-survive-amputation-and-metamorphosis
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tyri_kai_psomi
Small aside about memory in humans: I am reminded of a story told during a
lecture of a transplant recipient receiving a heart transplant and was
interviewed after the successful surgery about what they would like to eat now
that they had a new heart (previously, was on a really restricted diet due to
heart condition).

The person responded with "Kentucky fried chicken" on a whim.

It was later explained that they don't know why they felt compelled to say KFC
since they never been to one in their life. Later on, they find information
about the donor and how they died (motorcycle accident -- be safe on your
bikes please kids). The donor was a pretty husky guy, and loved Kentucky fried
chicken.

Now could have this just been sheer coincidence or chance? Most likely. Is
this scientifically verifiable? Of course not, not with current means. But for
some reason I've always had a strange suspicion that there was more to memory
than just storage in our brains, but that they are also somehow part of us as
well.

~~~
r_singh
Interesting... any chance you have a link of that lecture or a story on it?

~~~
wildduck
There are many cases of people who get organ transplant inherit the memory of
the donor. I have heard in more than one places or another. A simple search on
the web will yield this:

Here is a link: [https://www.medicaldaily.com/can-organ-transplant-change-
rec...](https://www.medicaldaily.com/can-organ-transplant-change-recipients-
personality-cell-memory-theory-affirms-yes-247498)

We still don't know squats about how memory are stored. And cases like that
can be a valid argument for memory and consciousness being a non-local
phenomenon. Kinda like how client-server model in CS. ;-) . Are our brain just
a browser?

~~~
AllegedAlec
> We still don't know squats about how memory are stored.

Yeah, but not in the kidneys or the liver. Get back to us when you find
sources from peer-reviewed journals.

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cjbprime
A headline sorely in need of "In Worms" on the end.

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BuildTheRobots
I remember hearing as a kid that worms cut in half would regenerate into two
worms however as an adult I'm sure I was taught this isn't actually the case
at all.

After a quick bit of googling, it seems that earthworms can re-grow their tail
(if cut far enough down), but the other end doesn't re-grow. Flat-Worms,
however are capable of entirely re-growing heads and tails from tiny pieces.

[https://www.livescience.com/38405-how-flatworms-regrow-
their...](https://www.livescience.com/38405-how-flatworms-regrow-their-
heads.html)

~~~
fao_

        > I remember hearing as a kid that worms cut in half would 
        > regenerate into two worms however as an adult I'm sure I 
        > was taught this isn't actually the case at all.
    

Do you mean that you're sure that you weren't taught it, or that you're sure
that it isn't the case in reality. Because the latter is easily answered by
reading the article in question:

    
    
        > In an early experiment, McConnell trained the worms à la
        > Pavlov by pairing an electric shock with flashing lights. 
        > Eventually, the worms recoiled to the light alone. Then 
        > something interesting happened when he cut the worms in 
        > half. The head of one half of the worm grew a tail and, 
        > understandably, retained the memory of its training.
        > Surprisingly, however, the tail, which grew a head and a 
        > brain, also retained the memory of its training. If a 
        > headless worm can regrow a memory, then where is the memory 
        > stored, McConnell wondered. And, if a memory can 
        > regenerate, could he transfer it?

~~~
BuildTheRobots
I meant I was sure that when I became an adult I was taught that worms
regrowing was an urban myth. The fact the scientist in the article was
regrowing them made me go and check and it turns out to be something that
changes with different variants, rather than a blanket worm rule either way.

------
GarvielLoken
Age old wisdom. That's why you always eat the heart of your enemies, so you
can grow in power.

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plutonorm
Aside from hinting at wonderful new science, the strongest resonance I get
from this story is hubris.

How proud and how wrong we can be. To disregard and minimise this research
because it does not fit neatly within existing paradigms, is a crime. Hundreds
of millions of dollars should be being poured into this research, the
implications for our understanding of fundamental biology are profound.

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saalweachter
Though now discredited, you'll occasionally see McConnell's idea of RNA-based
memory transfer in old science fiction, in particular _A World Out of Time_ by
Larry Niven.

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zappo2938
If we are empathetic, capable of being aware of other people's feelings, it is
reasonable that the memories attached to awareness exist not isolated in the
individual but across people.

~~~
alpaca128
You should look up mirror neurons. Aside from those we definitely do not know
other people's feelings, though. I think that's obvious from the amount of
conflict coming from this exact reason.

~~~
zappo2938
Being empathetic doesn't imply also being compassionate. Maybe we vie for
power so much exactly because we do have a deep awareness of other people's
feelings and people who wield power can say, "If I'm not happy, nobody is
happy." All this conflict comes from not having to depend on people in power
for our happiness.

