MacIntyre on Easing Painful Memories

In "I Won't Give Memory a Nip and Tuck," Times of London columnist Ben MacIntyre expresses his skepticism over the merits of drugs designed to dampen or erase traumatic memories.  He's not skeptical of the scientific prospects of the drugs (which would surely be a legitimate stance).  Rather, he's skeptical of their merits for improving our lives.  In a few paragraphs, he summarizes a number of the points made in in 2003 by the President's Council on Bioethics, writing on the same subject.  Here's an excerpt:

We could become, in effect, the curators of our own memory-libraries, chucking out or sealing up the volumes that distress us, leaving only shelf upon shelf of happy reminiscences.

. . .

Some ravaged lives will surely be improved by easing painful memories, but most would be diminished. As anyone knows who has observed the slow, cruel larceny of Alzheimer’s disease, the erosion of the sad memories is just as tragic as the elimination of the joyful ones.

(Hat tip: Frank Pasquale)