Thanks But No Thanks for the Memories?

There is a story in today's news about a new pill being tested by the Dutch that will erase painful memories or to frame it more accurately, it will block the unfortunate emotions tied to the event. The painful memories we have would essentially be replaced by feelings of numbness, happiness or even euphoria. The drug is being developed by the University of Amsterdam and is known as Propranolol, many may be familair with the liquid form of this drug...alcohol. I joke.
But seriously people, I have to wonder where we are headed as a "modern society". We live in a society that is more detached than it has ever been. Customer service is mostly automated, people text instead of calling each other, we learn how and what our friends are doing by reading their Facebook status'. Children spend hours on the computer, we watch countless hours of television. Even I am guilty of watching so many movies that sometimes I can't decipher fact from fiction. So to me, a pill that will make us more detached from the events that are happening in our lives makes me uneasy. Isn't part of living...learning? And without living through emotions, without experiencing pain tied to certain experiences aren't we robbing ourselves of valuable life lessons? They say this pill won't erase the memory of the event but it will make you essentially numb to the bad feelings that the memory brings. I realize this pill could be very useful for treating symptoms of PTSD, however I think there always needs to be a great amount of caution when using any drug to numb feelings, no matter how severe. By drugging a symptom you are truly just masking the cause and not fixing a thing.

Personally, I'm not sure I would take a pill that would erase my emotions. First, I have seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and given I learn most of my life lessons in a dark theatre, I know how this one ends! I also know there is a lot of wisdom to be found in pain. Because of the pain I have lived through, I know what I want out of relationships, I know what I will and won't put up with, I have learned the importance of telling those you love how you feel about them as often as possible, because I know what the pain of not doing so brings. I know the pain of being seen as ugly and as a result I have a much better understanding of beauty. So, although I've lived through some painful moments, as everyone has, I am with Bob Hope in saying, "thanks for the memories". While this may be a drug for some people, I say thanks but no thanks, that's too tough a pill for me to swallow!