hmmmm this requires some deep thinking tbh. but in my opinion i think losing memories of 5 years would definitely change the person's personality but not completely. the person would still have the same basic traits and characteristics like if they're naturally idk witty or happy they'll stay that way. buuut if they've gone through say something that changed their personality in those 5 years they lost memory of, like a traumatic event or heartbreak, then yeah they'd definitely act different and i guess be a changed person. basically i think they'll be the same person they were 5 years ago before they lost their memory and if person B was dating them during that time then person A won't be a completely changed person yk.
Id say A is someone else now, and unless they get the same treatment and experiences/understanding in the next 5 years of their life to return to who they were, that person they were before is gone. Would you show someone the person you were 5 years ago and say "This is who I am, and all you need to know about me"? HELL NO I HATE THAT BITCH dear god i dont want to show ANYONE that. A plant grows onto a fence and someone cuts it down to its roots and removes the fence, the plant grows again sprawling the floor and over rocks, and blooms something entirely different than it did before, is it the same plant? I dont think I spent 4 years caring for the one on the ground... I know the one from the fence, which gave me buds and leaves, I dont know this floor one, never dealt with something like it, and I dont think Im obligated to, after I spent 4 years on my fence plant, do you expect me to also take care of the floor plant?? Something I dont know if I even like in the first place?? I met a plant attached to the fence already, i dont think I can change my life just because someone replaced it with something that grows horizontally rather than veritcally. THIS OF COURSE DEPENDS ON HOW OLD THE PERSON LOSING THEIR MEMORIES IS, IF THEYRE LIKE, 45, YOURE PROBABLY SAFE TO SAY THEYRE ALMOST THE SAME PERSON.
Been thinking about this for a while now, but does memory loss make the character someone else? Like if character A lost the last let’s say 5 years of their memories, but they are married to character B who they only met like 4 years ago, is character B now in a “relationship” with a completely different person?
What I’m trying to ask I suppose, is that in this kind of scenario do the memories make A (well, A) or is it the well… the “body”? Because from As perspective, B is now a stranger, while B faces the dilemma of whether they should stay with A despite them not knowing B, or “abandon ship” so to say since this “different version” of A that is different to the person they have come to love. That they might as well be a stranger. Yet so many stories I’ve seen over the years show how B would stay with A despite the memory loss, making it seem like the physical body makes the person rather than the memories/ personality traits. (Which for the sake of this complaint we shall say are all gone from As brain). And I appreciate that leaving the partner early on in the memory loss process would not make sense because they might get their memories back, but what are the chances of that actually happening in real life? Especially if the memory loss is due to a serious brain injury?
I know, a must random thing to contemplate in the middle of the night, but I wanted to put it out there in case someone else is also contemplating this must important dilemma.
…(So is A the “same person” after losing their memory or “someone else”?)