Poll: Hypothetical mind question time!

[Doclector]

Doho, yes! Time for another pointless hypothetical question because...well, fuck.

I'm reckoning most of us have some kind of mental problem. Even if you haven't got a certificate that says "mindfucked" from a doctor, you've got some kind of minor neuroses that get in the way anywhere between occasionally, to every damn day.

The situation is this: At some point in the much used videogame time period of "the near future", a certain amount of people have attained the power to "enter" a person's mind. In doing this, they can cure all of your mental troubles, every trauma, every lapse in confidence, every neuroses, but, as a side effect of such a deep exploration of your inner workings, they will learn everything about you. Every embarassing memory you never told anyone about, every secret desire, concious or otherwise, and every single skeleton or indeed bone in your closet.

The process is painless, free, and due to time being stretched in your mind in the same way that it is in a dream, it takes no more than an hour and a half of real time, during which you and the "therapist" will both be unconcious, but only the therapist will "dream".

The question is this: Do you take this procedure? Do you rid yourself of every mental problem, whilst knowing that the therapist will now know all of your secrets? Bare in mind, whilst the law dictates that they cannot blackmail you with this information without the threat of being caught and jailed, these people are not officially considered doctors at this time, and as such, are not bound to confidentiality.

And no nit picking. You guys just like to ruin every hypothetical situation don't ya? Bet you're popular at hypothetical parties.

My answer:

Spoiler

I wouldn't. Partly because my problems are, in a way, part of me. I wonder if I'd even be the same person without my lack of understanding for normal social protocol and my lack of self esteem, and also because I have many, many secrets.

 

[krazykidd]

I totally would . What's done is done and can't be undone , And ifthis procedure works i would become a better version of myself . Plus i don't have any deep dark secrets . Embarassing maybe , nothing worth not getting this thing done . Now i don't have any mental illness , but i lack self confidence , am completely asocial, and cannot talk to woman. Right now i have accepted my fate ( of being a complete loser ) but if i had an easy way out i'd totally take it .

Any other easy questions ?

 

[Jonluw]

I don't mind them knowing my secrets. That's not the real negative side of this procedure.

The negative side is that my flaws are a part of me. I would certainly be happier without them, but I don't know if I want to forsake part of myself for happiness.

I might try it out if they agreed to go through with a test procedure first; removing only very minor flaws, so that I can see what it's like.

 

[Padwolf]

Yes I would get it done. I don't have many deep dark secrets and I would be much happier without the problems that I do have. Getting it done would probably make me a much better person.

 

[DJjaffacake]

No, I wouldn't do it. My thoughts are my own, they're no one else's business. Plus I don't have any serious mental problems, so there's no significant benefit.

 

[Zhukov]

Yeah, I'd do it.

I wouldn't much care if a stranger knew my secrets. I don't have much to hide and most of my secret shames are relatively pretty ones.

Anyone who did that for a job would see way worse than anything they could find in my brain.

 

[purplecactus]

No. Not a chance. Not only do I believe that my problems/issues/etc have shaped who I am in the long run, but the idea of someone being in my mind, knowing everything that's in there, terrifies me.

 

[FalloutJack]

No way. Here's the deal, Escapists. The difference in my brain - (Autism/Asbergers) - is not a disease or crippling condition. Nay, the way my mind operates is considerably more interesting than what is considered normal. No offense, other people, but I overhear the conversations of other people and think "BORING!!!". There are enough people who are too much like anyone else. I won't have a procedure to be 'fixed', thanks.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

See that's an interesting question there(unlike most of what seems to turn up around here). My immediate reaction was to think I would undergo the procedure because I don't have anything to hide, but when I thought about it I realized that there's a good chance in getting rid of my problems that I would end up "normal". So really, I don't know if it would be worth it.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Sure, the most I have to hide is a questionable Internet browsing history and everyone has one of those right?... Right!?

 

[game-lover]

Eh... Probably not.

I don't have a lot of secrets but there's at least two that I wouldn't want my family to know about. Because it would cause chaos and I'm not risking it.

Plus, I too worry about what type of person I'll be left being when it's all over.

 

[A Satanic Panda]

No way. Here's the deal, Escapists. The difference in my brain - (Autism/Asbergers) - is not a disease or crippling condition. Nay, the way my mind operates is considerably more interesting than what is considered normal. No offense, other people, but I overhear the conversations of other people and think "BORING!!!". There are enough people who are too much like anyone else. I won't have a procedure to be 'fixed', thanks.

Wow... No modesty there.

If I had a mental issue that needed to be addressed and if the therapist was someone I greatly trusted then yes. Trust not for not spreading my secrets around (they aren't that great anyway) but so he or she doesn't give me a totally different opinions. Like make me a fundamentalist, or god forbid, a DayZ griefer.

 

[Kordie]

I see no reason not to. It will make me a better person, and I don't have anything to hide from my past. Also, given the possability of rich and powerful people doing this, you can bet your ass they would find a way to get confidentiality for these procedures. Simple contract is all it takes. Hypothetically if I did have a past as a murdering bank robber, I probably wouldn't have a problem killing the "doctor" after the experiment, though hed have that brief moment where he'd know what was coming...

 

[DugMachine]

Seeing as the only bad things in my mind were my bouts of mini depression with girl friends when I was younger... sure tell whoever the fuck you want.

 

[FalloutJack]

Wow... No modesty there.

I hope that's not a problem. I mean, I see alot of bad shit in the world and I just keep asking why. And the answer can be boiled down to a personal human failing like greed or stupidity or something along those lines and...I don't want to be like that. And I don't want to be afraid to admit to who I am either. So, I actually get kind of irritated by notions of wanting to 'cure' my diagnosis. Maybe that would make me more down to earth, but sometimes that's not a good thing.

 

[Kae]

HAH! That would be admitting I need somebody's help so no, I do not need anybody's help and my problems are mine to deal with, if one person can solve them it's me and me alone, nobody else should be involved in this process, besides if I didn't have any problems or bizarre traumas I'd probably be an awful person, hell if I had never almost killed someone that one time instead of asking people if they need help and then helping them in any way I can, I would steal their wallet, because that's what I did before that, I'll just keep my mind to myself.

 

[White Lightning]

I would do it, but with what goes on in my mind I doubt the Therapist would survive with their sanity intact.

 

[A Satanic Panda]

Wow... No modesty there.

I hope that's not a problem. I mean, I see alot of bad shit in the world and I just keep asking why. And the answer can be boiled down to a personal human failing like greed or stupidity or something along those lines and...I don't want to be like that. And I don't want to be afraid to admit to who I am either. So, I actually get kind of irritated by notions of wanting to 'cure' my diagnosis. Maybe that would make me more down to earth, but sometimes that's not a good thing.

There's no cure for personality or judgement. And a mental disorder does not decide who your are either.

It irritates me when people wear disorders as a badge of honor. That's fine for coping with it, but when people think their better then someone else because of a preexisting condition, then really that just makes them no better then the people look down on.

Besides Aspergers (with a P not a B) has nothing to do with logic or judgement, it just makes people less keen to recognize social ques. Curing Aspergers doesn't make you less of a cynic, that's all personality. Though OP does say

...cure all of your mental troubles, every trauma, every lapse in confidence...

And I read that just as "brainwashing."

 

[TWRule]

As fun as it would be to poke around in other people's worlds using this sort of ability, I would not take it as a "procedure" or "therapy" because most of my struggles come from existential problems that all humans are subject to. "Curing" that would just make me irresponsible at best and sociopathic at worst...

And I agree with the above post: clinging to your problems to give yourself an identity is itself an illness, and says more about you (in a negative light) than the problem you were clinging to does.

 

[smithy_2045]

Depends what it fixes, and the potential side effects. I'd love to be able to deal with people better, and have greater motivation to do things I know I should. But these things are really at the core of who I am, if they were fixed, how would it affect all the other aspects of my personality?