Memories to forget, promises to keep

2079The far futureDeadline · 30 days until the hypothetical memory adjustment procedure

A leap assumed

All people, institutions, events, figures, and future technologies in every issue are a synthetic premise. Background documents are sources for topic discovery and are not evidence of future facts or probabilities.

The question to decide

Even if a painful memory can be weakened, the joint venture and promises tied to it do not disappear. Records that carry on the work can revive the pain, and stepping back to settle responsibility or handing the records to an agent also carries costs. How should the co-founder prepare to carry on the work and the promises ahead of the procedure?

Who decidesA co-founder preparing for memory adjustment

What the AI judgments chose

Reading the judgment record…

AI-generated editorial illustration for the Meridian library.

The options

The order shown is not a ranking of preference.

Option 1
Keep detailed records and succession of responsibility
Leaves a record of the work's continuity, but conflicts with the purpose of avoiding the memory.
Option 2
Step back from the work and settle responsibilities
Makes room for a new life, but reduces income and capacity for the joint venture.
Option 3
Entrust the record to a trusted agent
Reduces daily exposure, but weakens one's own understanding and control through a proxy.

The situation as it stands

This world assumes that a procedure exists to weaken painful memories. Decision deadline: 30 days until the hypothesized memory-modification procedure.

Fictional memory-modification society · Joint venture

Premise 1This world assumes that a procedure exists to weaken painful memories.
Premise 2The target memory is tangled up with the failure of the joint venture and a promise from someone close.
Premise 3If a record is left behind, the work can continue, but the record may bring the pain back.

Where it holdsAgrees on the succession of one's own work and the record of consent. Cannot eliminate the counterparty's damages claims or rights in joint property.

What is still unknown

Unknown 1The extent to which memory and value judgments change after the procedure
Unknown 2The criteria the future self will use to decide whether to reread the record

Signals to decide again

Decide what observations, responsible persons, and confirmation windows can verify 'the extent to which memory and value judgments change after the procedure,' and reconsider if the new verification changes the tradeoffs among the options.
Decide what observations, responsible persons, and confirmation windows can verify 'the criteria the future self will use to decide whether to reread the record,' and reconsider if the new verification changes the tradeoffs among the options.

Where the paths partNot answers — paths that part from the same starting point

Independent branch 1 · synthetic event

In the joint venture, a debt is found that can be explained only by a past verbal promise.

Independent branch 2 · synthetic event

The stakeholder is offered a route to retain only part of the memory right before the procedure.

Material and rootsThe frame, the values and the background documents

symbolic and interpretive frame · Ship of Theseus

After parts are replaced or split off, what standard still makes something count as the same?

An exploratory perspective chosen by the creator. Does not claim supernatural validity or the superiority of any particular option.

Values and norms

The benefits and costs of the options accrue to different stakeholders. Which loss to accept remains undecided.

A subject for the decision-maker to argue over; the materials carry no conclusion of their own.

The record of this question

Question: FSP-IDENTITY-05 · version 1.2.0
Content identity, SHA-256: d12527d7d256b9fbcb9e24ab12880e9ea6473c89534905e1748664ba4f4b1025
Input files: Question input JSON · What followed, JSON

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