MovieChat Forums > Æon Flux (2005) Discussion > Memories being preserved

Memories being preserved

posted 8 years ago by FlyingPie
12 replies | jump to latest

I had only seen a few of the Aeon Flux cartoon shorts on MTV back in the day, so maybe I'm missing something. I just watched this movie recently, and one thing that I felt odd was the idea that when a person is cloned, the person's memories (or consciousness?) moves on to the clone, so it's almost like a person lives forever as long as they keep being cloned. I don't think there is a scientific basis for that, is there? They didn't explain it in the movie. I don't see a reason why memories would be preserved in a cloning process. If you clone someone, they are physically the same but would have their own unique experiences and memories, like identical twins. Physically the same but not the same person.

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We have clearance, Clarence.
Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?

[–] slaintemhath 8 years ago

Memories are essentially patterns formed in brain matter, should the technology exist to copy a brain molecule by molecule then the memories would also exist.

Of course we're talking a science-fiction premise here, so a science-fact explanation is not really necessary.

[–] FlyingPie 8 years ago

I think science fiction should have some basis in fact in order for the viewer to suspend disbelief though.. It has to be plausible in some way.

Also, our current understanding/methodology of cloning isn't copying someone's molecules, but rather taking some of their DNA and growing another person based on the DNA. It seemed that's the type of cloning used in the movie, since they talk about new clones being raised from a baby to adulthood.

----------------
We have clearance, Clarence.
Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?

[–] stazza 8 years ago

most science fiction has lots of fiction partitially carved from known science. this one pushes many boundaries.... which I was happy for. too much SF plays it too safe, too near real science to FEEL fictiony.

Maybe look at it this way: MAYBE (unsciency) our souls, with parts of memories, are connected in teh universe via a dimention we are unfamiliar with.... not stored electical charges in the gray matter of our brain, but some other substance.... like Xrays exist or infrared light exists but we can't see it normally... anyawy, they are not FULL memories or the little baby Una would pop out knowing everything and talking like a grown up on day one. She's a clone, so the same eyes, but her connection to the cosmic soul plain is not understanable to her yet.... but.... Aeon gets flashes from her own connection to her love with the original Goodchild and feels something. Emotions, love, and all that is not very scienctific: if it is procreation, why do we desire ONE person and not the next?

Anyway, you gotta admit when science can't explain everything and jsut roll with the entertainment of it all.

[–] slaintemhath 8 years ago

What is plausible changes on a daily basis, powered flight was a thing of science fiction not far over a century ago, our current understanding of cloning is the equivalent to the distance between a neanderthal banging rocks together to make sparks and nuclear fission.

[–] LetThemEatCake01 8 years ago

That's right, it's physically impossible for a clone to have any previous memories.

[–] stazza 7 years ago

How do we know this? How many real clones have you spoken with?

[–] LetThemEatCake01 7 years ago

it's kinda obvious that it is impossible.

[–] slaintemhath 7 years ago

It's impossible at the moment because cloning a human is also impossible. Flight was impossible, electric lighting was impossible, curing syphilis was impossible, putting a man on the moon was impossible… until it was possible.

[–] LetThemEatCake01 7 years ago

breaking physical laws is not possible, memories are not inhereted through genetics.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Exactly.

[–] Cookie.L.A. (2117) 7 years ago

<< one thing that I felt odd was the idea that when a person is cloned, the person's memories (or consciousness?) moves on to the clone, so it's almost like a person lives forever as long as they keep being cloned. I don't think there is a scientific basis for that, is there? >>

It has been done (with memories preserved) several times in the past.

It was in all the papers...
.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

It would have been nice if they gave it at least a brief mention in some throwaway line.