Perfect Memory, Imperfect Consequences

The brain is a very delicate organ, which is why surgeons have to be very careful when operating on the brain. A few months ago, I took a course on the relationship between language and the brain, Psycholinguistics. I learnt that when people have problems pronouncing certain words or combining words to form sentences, it all narrows down to the brain. The brain is divided into two hemispheres; the left and right hemispheres. The left hemisphere controls the right part of the body while the right hemisphere controls the left part. In essence, what I’m trying to convey is that the brain is very important and should be treated with proper care.

However, times have changed. Technology has improved significantly. Decades ago, human beings didn’t have the technological improvements that are available in today’s world. I’m pretty sure that surgeons struggled to perform brain surgeries decades ago, but it has become less difficult, and it is all thanks to technology. For today’s Hive Learners’ prompt, the community asks a very interesting question: if you were told that getting a chip in your brain would help improve your memory, would you go for it? Many people would turn away from this idea because human beings are prone to making mistakes. What if they make mistakes during the process? One could easily end up in a vegetative state if the brain is tampered with in an improper way. But what if there is a hundred percent guaranteed opportunity that everything would turn out well?

This topic reminds me of Upgrade, a movie I saw in 2018. Grey, the main character, and his wife are attacked in a ghastly accident which causes him to be paralyzed. Things take an interesting turn when a computer chip is implanted in Grey’s body. Not only does this chip give him the power to walk (move the lower part of his body which was paralyzed during the accident), it also improves his memory and his ability to perform tasks. The chip helps Grey to avenge his wife, but unknowing to him, it has an agenda of its own. Eventually, he takes over Grey’s body and allows him to be trapped in his memory where he spends time with his deceased wife.

As much as this sounds amazing, it is too risky. I would really love to improve my memory. I mean, who wouldn’t? I can’t count the number of times my friends have gotten mad at me because I forgot their birthdays. Now, I only know the birthdays of people who are very very close to me, and even then, it takes a lot for the dates to stick in my brain. It would really be nice to have a sharp memory, but not just by any means. Putting a chip in your brain to improve your memory sounds too risky. We know how these things work. There will always be a law of diminishing returns. The chip will probably serve its purpose for years. It might even help you solve mathematical equations easily or memorize all the states in each country. However, it will eventually reach a point where its effectiveness starts diminishing and that is when the negative effects will start rolling in.

As I mentioned, the brain is a very delicate organ. Putting a chip in the brain can cause negative effects like brain tumors. And if that happens, then what is the essence of the chip in the first place? If the brain chop were a thing in the future, I’ll probably pass on it. It is far too risky. Plus, I have survived many years of my life without any brain chip in my head, so passing on the brain chip definitely wouldn’t kill.

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Thanks for reading.