Can an EMP wipe everything out already?
Memories are imperfect for a reason, they are supposed to evolve with us. I'm not pro-1984 or anything, but the past is shaped by the present to some degree. I can only imagine that freezing the things we did and said in time and preventing their evolution would have a negative impact on personal development and distort human relationships.
We should cringe at our past selves, if we didn't it means we are not growing and our lives are a waste. However, when the remnants of our minds are presented as static objects they are more difficult to move on from. Since we can't escape, our egos may try to justify our past actions and stay stuck instead of learning from them and growing. And other people's views of us were already hard enough to change pre-internet. Now they have access to permanent records of everything we did in the past, and they're gonna confuse that with our present selves. It's a lot more difficult for people to have accurate views of one another, making our relationships miscalibrated. Sure, a small delay may not have immediately noticeable effects but what about the resulting chain reaction?
All for the illusion of safety. When we delete something, it should actually be deleted not hidden away somewhere in Utah. But because some people are criminals we should all be treated like criminals, and no one should have the right to control their own image. How did they ever catch criminals before electronic records? This need for the illusion of certainty is a mental illness running rampant in society. Basically, people need to convince others that they can dictate outcomes so they can justify their positions and uphold the notion that they are "earning their livings." They need to have something to point to when nothing goes wrong and somehow tie it back to themselves with a story that they were the causal force. So we need records, as many as possible! The people keeping us safe are doing a good job. Also, you don't want to ruin people's lives in a way that can get you sued. It is only acceptable to ruin people's lives in a way where you can't be sued. This is another benefit of the extensive records kept on us.
All this does is make it easier for criminals to get to know people more intimately and make more effective scams. Or if you're trying to get away from your stalker, they can find you more easily. Or if someone in some other way wants to make your life miserable it's just a lot easier. But this is a good thing overall, because it creates more jobs so we can all continue to earn our livings! Now we have companies that we need to pay so they can help us remove our info that shouldn't even be there in the first place. :)
Here is a summary of why society is so messed up:
*Nerd needs job. Needs to work obligatory 40 hours creating new useless tech.
*Marketing team needs job. Makes up some nonsense that sounds good to sell useless tech.
*Gullible person in some other job falls for marketing and buys useless tech for their company.
*Useless tech overcomplicates things and lowers people's quality of life, but sunk cost fallacy means the company must continue to use it and force it to work.
*Nerd needs to create new tech to offset the negative effects of previous tech. And new nerds need to be hired to help.
*New jobs are being created, which means the economy is good and we should praise the current president.
This is why we have electronic menus that make you stare and them and wait a while until the image you were looking at comes up again so you can decide what to order. Did anyone ask for this? Does anyone like it? Does it improve anyone's quality of life? I don't think so, but it is gaining widespread use anyway.
Anyway, I am not the person I was five minutes ago so I probably don't even believe this anymore. I actually have a healthy respect for authority and like to outsource my life to those who know better than me.
