Instigator / Pro
8
1417
rating
158
debates
32.59%
won
Topic
#2380

If scientists could create artificial but convincing memories for consumers for free, they should

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Better arguments
0
6
Better sources
4
4
Better legibility
2
2
Better conduct
2
2

After 2 votes and with 6 points ahead, the winner is...

oromagi
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
3
Time for argument
Two days
Max argument characters
5,000
Voting period
Two weeks
Point system
Multiple criterions
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
14
1922
rating
117
debates
97.44%
won
Description

Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRJ_DuXP6IM&ab_channel=Krinku1

If any word is unclear, ask in comments first before accepting.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

I'll keep this one short.

While I do think both sides put up a decent effort, each side has their problems in this debate. Pro starts off with three advantages, the last of which is basically just pre-rebuttal without any offensive substance. While that does hinder his case a bit, the bigger problem is that there is no specificity regarding how this artificial memories would work, and that allows Con to drag Pro down a rabbit hole. Pro, really all you had to do here was say that they make memories with all the various sensations associated, and that we should assume this is a science fiction version of our world with the tools to generate memories with all the associated facets (like all 5 senses). I got from the outset that that was where you should have been going, but since you didn't define it that way in your opening round and your responses were focused on single senses, you got lost on this one, and it made your second contention virtually disappear. So your only offense going into the final round was your first contention.

Con, I get how your strategy works, but I don't see you doing the requisite weighing analyses that could have made this an easy win for you. You include substantial discussion of how important it is to learn from our past pains, but it's pretty vague. It's unclear how I should weigh this against the possibility that people can manage past pains and move past them, and while you do mitigate that argument, it's hard to tell how well this weighs against that. Pro also had the opportunity to argue that this capability to craft artificial memories could further your cause, since not all memories have to paper over past events. He could even argue that introducing past trauma through memories can similarly help us to improve without the added risks of actually experiencing those traumas, a point that would have turned what I consider to be the main argument against his case.

Nonetheless, I do think the debate swings towards Con. Pro largely allows his argument to be directed by Con, and efforts to paper over past events with poor facsimiles are going to make it difficult for Pro to achieve any of his advantages. The ability to gain skills is effectively mitigated into oblivion by uncertainty, and the morality side is challenged pretty harshly with the reality that, unlike just forgetting a memory, someone is imposing this loss on you. I'm not clear that doctors/scientists have an absolute adherence to truth as part of their doctrine, but Pro doesn't provide adequate responses to show that this isn't the case, so Con is winning on this point as well. Much as it is unclear just how much Con is garnering from his side of the debate, Pro's benefits are obfuscated enough that I have more trouble nailing down what he actually gets. That nets Con the win.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

To The Moon sounds like a beautiful game... Side note: I had to go and read a story summary, and it sounded tragic. The problem of regret stemmed from his parents modifying his memories, and then in the end he and his wife buried side by side, aren't the same people who were married...

The key problem for pro in this debate was immediately hamstringing himself with replaced memories instead of additive memories. A president who wants to escape into a fantasy world where China launched 9/11, sounds somewhat dangerous, yet were his own memories of 9/11 overwritten it would risk a need to retaliate (I know the debaters did not get quite this deep, but with the point about being doomed to repeat things, in the world of replaced memories how would individuals be certain if we did or did not retaliate already for that attack?). Adding to it, is intuitively it would not even be a problem like cognitive dissonance of denied reality, their new reality would be wholly valid to everyone who drinks to Kool-Aid (or however the memories are transmitted). This is way worse than them lying, since to them it would not be a lie, it would be the factual truth.

While one case should not be decisive, it implied many more like it.

Skills was an interesting area, but it was pretty non-decisive if we could successfully do more than memorization through whatever the tech is. It was further hurt again by To The Moon, as the idea of rapid advancement that we could explore strange new worlds... was called into question of fake memories that would let people have their ambition fulfilled without the risk or actual reword for humanity.