“We Can Remember it for You Wholesale” chronicles a man’s
experience with a company called “Rekal” that offers its clients the ability to
have false memories of their fantasies put into their heads. In this story, PKD
addresses many of science fictions most intriguing questions, and one theme
that this story deals with a lot is a man’s search to find what is genuine, and
what is artificial (similar to the theme addressed in PKD’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?).
Much like what is seen in Electric Sheep,
the reader really has no clues as to who or what to believe, and the proverbial
rug is constantly pulled out from under you, as PKD loves to do so much. This
technique brings a lot of skepticism to this science fiction world, which leads
to a lot of uncertainty toward the trustworthiness of the technology in this
world.
One of the most interesting parts of this short story is
when the main character, Douglas Quail goes to the psychiatrist who tells him
about his deepest, most intense, subconscious desire so that this memory can be
implanted in his brain. The dream that they find, is that as a young boy, a
spacecraft lands so that it is seen by only him, and a group of very small
alien creatures come out. They tell him that they have come to invade but they
are so blown away by his kindness and mercy that they decide not to invade
while he is still living, thus making him the only thing preventing the earth
from destruction. This dream provides a lot of insight to human nature, namely
how we want to be perceived, and this story seems to suggest that while are
deepest desires are to protect the greater good, it comes from a place of
narcissism and a desire for glory.
The implanted memory idea that PKD introduces really made me think as a reader and raised some very interesting questions about memory and consciousness. Mainly, he makes us question whether we would be able to distinguish from our own memories or ones that have been created artificially. After all, the end result is the same. Memories are memories whether they are fabricated or come from experience. In effect, the Rekal company has the power to change the past for individual people. Since memories are all we have of the past, an experience in a fake memory may as well have actually happened.
ReplyDeleteEthically, there are several things wrong with implanting memories into human beings. One that I can think of is that it destroys our incentive to live good, fulfilling lives. When we live in the here and now, we try to make memories that will last. We want to be happy when we look back on all the things we have done and experienced. However, implanted memories would allow us to skip right to the last step. If this were possible, why would we do anything? We would be able to make anything a reality, regardless of whether or not it actually happened. For me, trying to wrap my head around these considerations was part of what made the story enjoyable.