"I WILL break up my father's empire." The film Inception tells the story of an attempt to influence a businessman's behaviour by using futuristic gadgetry to get inside his mind.
That makes for an exciting movie, but there's a simpler way. Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus can condition people just by planting false information on a personality profile. For example, "reminding" someone of that time they drank far too much vodka as a teen may make them want to drink less of it in the future (see "I could have sworn… Why you can't trust your memory"), even if the event never occurred.
Is this ethical? That, of course, depends on how voluntary the procedure is. (Loftus has already had requests from people seeking to kick habits.) Fiddling with one's memory might seem creepy, but it has a precedent. People have long drunk to forget. Perhaps soon we'll remember to not drink.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Remember to forget"
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