PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM

I spend many hours here as my fingers tease melodies out of the keys. Listening to the piano over my lifetime has connected it with so many events that my experience of it has become emotional. Science says that each time I listen, the moments press a sustain pedal in my brain, making the experience resonate longer. It’s no wonder that when I hear a piano, I’m flooded with emotion.

This piece of wood is real and I can touch it. With technology like Virtual Reality, many experiences have become vicarious and orchestrated. Only six years ago, a Chinese scientist created the world’s first genetically altered babies using CRISPR. The future promises to be even more ‘perfect.’ By next year, every newborn in England will have their DNA mapped to assess their risk of hundreds of diseases. Eventually, they will be cured of things before they even contract them!

Which brings me to yet another possibility: purposeful memory extraction. Neuroscientist, Steve Ramirez, wants to remove ‘bad’ memories from our memory. He is the fellow who discovered that one could implant ‘false’ memories in rats by manipulating specific parts of their brains. At first, I imagine how wonderful it might be to eliminate the memories of war from PTSD survivors.

Then, I have second thoughts. I conjure up a particularly negative memory from my own childhood which I figure I don’t need at all. When I imagine my life without that memory, I’m stunned. Without it, I never would have learned how to get out of a difficult situation safely. Without it, I never would have become a deep observer of people. Without it? I might not even be here!

It turns out that the worst experiences in my life have been my greatest teachers. I don’t want to zap those memories away as if they never existed. They built and defined me. They were the source of everything in me that I now love. Buddah said, “We are what we think.” If we remove some of those thoughts, who are we? A puzzle without all the pieces? A disjointed picture plagued by irregular holes? Embrace the whole discordant mess. It is us and we are perfect for today.