Implanting False Memmories

[Storms]

Would it be possible to implant false memories, that can only be remembered at a specific later date allowing the hypnotist several sessions to reinforce the implanted memories with such precise definition and clarity that eventually the subject really can't tell what was real and what was not?

I'm particularly thinking about implanted versions of reality that really can't be proven or disproven, and would blend into the subjects real life present situation. The idea being not to change the person, but just to give them an entertaining experience that seems more real than their most vivid dreams?

No? Maybe?

Hypnotainment.

[Fizbin]

Hypnosis can absolutely be used for that. In fact, when hypnosis is practiced to "help" someone remember things, special care must be taken to prevent their creation. One quick search for "false memory syndrome" will tell you all you need to know about the effectiveness of memory creation, and the potentially devastating consequences.

[KIY]

Inadvertent false memory creation was also talked about in the movie "Session 9" as one of the reasons the sanitarium had been shut down. (Although, in the real world, I believe that wasn't the case. In the real world, the building had become too worn out and hard/expensive to maintain.)

[stan]

If you can't tell what memory is real and what is false .. would it be fun, because you wouldn't know the difference any more.

Or is it that the false memories are obviously false at a later date ?


Just wondering, 'cos with a bit of fascination around the fetish of brainwashing it seems to me that anything which might conceivably be real in that regard doesn't seem any extraordinary or unusual for the subject.

[KIY]

If you can't tell what memory is real and what is false .. would it be fun, because you wouldn't know the difference any more.

I suppose it would depend upon the memory. A memory of riding a unicorn would obviously be false. A memory of being raped would probably do all the psychological damage of a real rape, and could be done so that it wouldn't be distinguished from a real memory. (For just those reasons using hypnosis for memory recall needs to be done really, really carefully. It came under severe criticism for having done so in some people.)

[Storms]

I was thinking of memories that were not obviously false. Like say a memory of a chance encounter leading to a sexual experience with one of the famous or powerful.

The memory could be of an encounter that goes well, and of the next morning, where both parties decide for some significant reason not to ever see or contact each other, but to remember and appreciate the short time and bodily functions they shared.

Intense, entertaining, and I would guess probably safe?

There's a few files on here that come close with the hypnotist being the other party in the liaison, but those are more like jerk along files instead of implanted memories...

[Jeshi]

Memory creation and modification is incredibly even without hypnosis, so doing it with hypnosis is probably pretty easy too. Sometimes files won't actually work as intended, but instead create false memories of the file working well instead, so the subject can't tell the difference and doesn't care anyway. (Because a lot of files use those stock wakeners with the suggestion of something like "you really enjoyed this file" or "this file was great" which gets added without thinking about it, and so even if the earlier suggestions didn't work, the last one will and they wake up remembering how much they loved this file but not remember if it even worked.)

Studies have found that if you've known someone for long enough that they can just make stuff up and you'll take it into your memory and believe it. Because there's a sort of "communal memory" system our brains use, where we don't bother to remember certain things because we can trust that someone we know does remember it. This is most apparent among couples who have been married for a long time. It also happens among friends though. The thing is, it's not always as simple as "Nancy, do you remember where I put my car keys?" Sometimes you believe that you remember something fine, because every time you've ever needed to recall it you've been around a certain person, so you actually store the memory "inside" that person. An example could be song lyrics, your friend knows the lyrics to a song, you don't, but you never sing the song except around that friend, and then you can "retrieve" the memory from them at a quick enough pace to sing at the same tempo as them. You never asked them to remind you, you could just get it.

So then in these studies (if someone wants, I can hunt them down, but I don't want to do it while writing this post since there's a chance nobody cares) they would find people who were BFFs since childhood, and then they'd instruct one friend to casually bring up a "memory" (under the pretenses that they were chatting, and this wasn't part of the test) which was completely fabricated, and then talk about it with their friend. The other friend would then believe that it happened and add it to their memory. They don't feel reminded, they feel like they had the memory all along and just hadn't thought about it in a while. To the point that they'd remember extra details than what they were told for the sake of continuing the conversation.

When it was revealed that the memory was made up, the subjects didn't believe them. By the time they were done talking about it with their friend, they were convinced it was something they'd remembered all along. They "retrieved" the memory from the friend, by assuming they had been storing there, and then kept it.

Other studies where changing memories was really easy involved doctoring photographs. Photos from family albums were doctored and shown to the people in the photos, and then they'd remember the event as it was shown in the photo. Being convinced they wore a bright red suit to their brother's wedding, and once again, not believing the photo was doctored. They didn't even question it at first, as soon as they saw the photo their reaction was "Of course I'm wearing a red suit in the photo, because I remember wearing a red suit that day."

(Here's even more stuff about how pliable memory is: http://www.cracked.com/article_18704_5-mind-blowing-ways-your-memory-plays-tricks-you.html)

So with hypnosis, making memories should be really really easy. I mean, I still feel like dldrip was "in a grade above me" in school, even though I didn't go to a school with grades. He suggested that in a file, I know that, but I also totally remember all of the things he described. Although I know those memories were implanted, they feel real. If I've listened to one of his files more recently, I'll sometimes catch myself thinking things like "I know he planted those memories in everyone else but maybe for just me they all actually did happen, and then he based the suggestions in his files on those times."

Plus, there's that whole thing how hypnosis is useless for remembering past events because you're really just creating new memories, and if the hypnotist knows what happened then those new memories might be accurate, but if they're looking for a certain something then it's sure to come up. Alien abductions, abuse, always shows up when looked for if you use hypnosis. And then they believe it.