patentNumber: "US-IMP-4,114,808" title: "Memory Erasure & Replacement Pen" titleRu: "Перо для стирания и замены памяти" filingDate: "May 22, 1981" issueDate: "August 9, 1985" inventor: "Dr. Avery T. Penhaligon" inventorRu: "д-р Эйвери Т. Пенхалигон" inventorSlug: "avery-penhaligon" classification: "Quantum Absurdities" status: "Pending Physics Revision" abstract: "A handheld writing implement, of approximately the dimensions of a conventional fountain pen, configured for the targeted erasure of a single declarative memory from the brain of a subject and the substitution therefor of an alternative declarative memory selected by the operator. The pen comprises an outer barrel (1) of machined brass, a refillable ink reservoir (2) containing the substitute-memory carrier fluid, a nib (3) of focused-positron emitting alloy, a memory-targeting display (4) on the side of the barrel, and a thumb-mounted release-trigger (5) which, upon depression, applies the carrier fluid to the targeted memory engram and effects the substitution." abstractRu: "Ручной пишущий инструмент размером приблизительно с обычное перо для письма, предназначенный для целенаправленного стирания одного декларативного воспоминания из мозга испытуемого и замещения его иным декларативным воспоминанием по выбору оператора. Перо состоит из внешнего корпуса (1) из обточенной латуни, перезаправляемого чернильного резервуара (2), содержащего жидкость-носитель замещающего воспоминания, наконечника (3) из сплава, испускающего направленный поток позитронов, дисплея целеуказания воспоминаний (4) на боковой стенке корпуса и активируемого большим пальцем спускового механизма (5), который при нажатии переносит жидкость-носитель на целевую энграмму памяти и осуществляет замещение." citations:

• "US-IMP-5,019,447"
• "US-IMP-3,447,772"

Field of InventionОбласть изобретенияField of Invention

The present invention relates to apparatus for the selective modification of a subject's autobiographical and semantic memory, and more particularly to such modification effected by an operator through the use of a portable, handheld instrument resembling and weighted similarly to a conventional fountain pen. The invention is intended for application by such operators as may wish to remove, replace, or otherwise alter the memory contents of subjects within their immediate vicinity, without the inconvenience of conventional surgical intervention, hypnosis, or extended interrogation.

BackgroundПредпосылкиBackground

The selective modification of human memory has been a long-standing object of medical, psychiatric, military, and matrimonial endeavor. Conventional methods include (a) traumatic suppression, which is unreliable; (b) pharmacological intervention with such agents as scopolamine and the benzodiazepines, which produces only temporary amnesia and is ineffective against well-rehearsed memories; (c) hypnotic suggestion, which is laborious and ineffective against subjects of resistant temperament; (d) the application of severe electrical current to the cranium, which is effective but visible to the subject and to bystanders; and (e) the methods of the inventor's previous filing, U.S.-IMP-5,019,447, which effects memory erasure incident to the deletion of the subject entirely.

The instant invention provides a means for the targeted and substitutive modification of memory by means of an instrument of compact and unobtrusive form, indistinguishable, to bystanders, from the act of taking notes in a small leatherbound journal.

Summary of the InventionКраткое изложение изобретенияSummary of the Invention

The apparatus comprises:

• An outer barrel (1) of machined brass, of nominal length thirteen centimeters, of weight and balance corresponding to a conventional fountain pen of premium quality;
• A refillable ink reservoir (2) housed within the barrel, of nominal capacity two milliliters, containing the substitute-memory carrier fluid comprising a colloidal suspension of conformally-folded protein bundles encoding the substitute memory in a quantum-mechanical superposition of synaptic configurations;
• A nib (3) of focused-positron-emitting alloy, of platinum-iridium composition doped with sodium-22, configured to deliver a focused positron beam of approximately 200 keV at a focal length of two meters;
• A memory-targeting display (4) on the side of the barrel, of approximately the dimensions and resolution of a postage stamp, showing the operator a real-time index of the subject's hippocampal contents in tabular form, sorted by emotional salience;
• A thumb-mounted release-trigger (5) at the upper end of the barrel, configured to apply the carrier fluid to the targeted memory engram upon depression and to retract the focused-positron beam upon release;
• A pocket-clip (6) of polished brass, by which the pen may be retained in the operator's breast pocket in the manner of a conventional writing implement;
• A dipping-well (7), supplied separately, by which the reservoir may be replenished with the desired substitute-memory carrier fluid, available in a range of standard preparations.

U.S.B.I.P. Drawing №Чертёж У.С.Б.И.П. №U.S.B.I.P. Drawing №

Sheet 1 of 1Лист 1 из 1Sheet 1 of 1

Detailed DescriptionПодробное описаниеDetailed Description

Referring to FIG. 9A, the pen is shown in sectional elevation. The outer barrel (1) is machined from solid brass stock in two halves, joined longitudinally with a sealing gasket of natural rubber, and is finished in matte black lacquer with the inventor's monogram engraved upon the cap.

The reservoir (2) is fabricated of borosilicate glass and is held in tension within the barrel by a small spring at its base. The reservoir contains, in its standard charge, approximately two milliliters of substitute-memory carrier fluid, sufficient for approximately fifty applications. The carrier fluid is a proprietary preparation comprising recombinant brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a colloidal suspension of protein bundles encoded with the substitute memory, and a small quantity of glycerol as a stabilizer.

The nib (3) is of platinum-iridium alloy doped with the positron-emitting isotope sodium-22, of activity approximately one millicurie at manufacture. The nib is shaped to focus the emitted positrons by means of a graded-permittivity collimator, producing a beam of approximately 200 keV and beam diameter approximately one millimeter at a focal length of two meters. The operator targets the beam by directing the nib at the subject's anterior cranium.

In operation, the operator activates the memory-targeting display (4) by means of a small thumbwheel on the barrel's side. The display polls the subject's hippocampus through the focused-positron emission and constructs a real-time index of the subject's declarative memories, presenting them in a scrolling list sorted by recency of access and by emotional salience. The operator selects the target memory from the list and depresses the release-trigger (5).

Upon depression of the trigger, two operations occur simultaneously: (a) the focused-positron beam is intensified to approximately ten milliamperes for a duration of two milliseconds, sufficient to disrupt the synaptic configuration of the targeted engram; and (b) the carrier fluid is sublimated from the reservoir, passing through a microfabricated capillary in the nib, and is conveyed across the intervening distance by means of an ionized aerosol of nominal mean free path two meters. The carrier fluid contacts the disrupted engram and re-folds it into the configuration encoded in the substitute. The substitution is complete within approximately two seconds; the subject experiences a momentary distraction, typically attributed by him to a transient noise or change of light, and thereafter possesses the substitute memory with the full confidence and emotional valence of an authentic recollection.

ClaimsФормула изобретенияClaims

1. A handheld instrument for the targeted modification of a subject's memory, comprising: a barrel of pen-like form; a reservoir housed within said barrel containing a substitute-memory carrier fluid; a positron-emitting nib disposed at one end of said barrel; a memory-targeting display upon the side of said barrel; and a thumb-mounted release-trigger disposed upon said barrel.

2. The instrument of claim 1, wherein said nib is of platinum-iridium alloy doped with sodium-22 of activity not less than one millicurie at manufacture.

3. The instrument of claim 1, wherein said positron-emitting nib is configured to produce a beam of approximately 200 keV and beam diameter not exceeding one millimeter at a focal length of two meters.

4. The instrument of claim 1, wherein said memory-targeting display presents to the operator a scrolling index of the subject's declarative memories sorted by emotional salience.

5. The instrument of claim 1, further comprising a pocket-clip of polished brass.

6. A method for the substitution of a specified memory in a subject, comprising the steps of: (a) approaching said subject to within two meters; (b) activating said memory-targeting display; (c) selecting the target memory from the index thereupon presented; (d) depressing the release-trigger; and (e) withdrawing from the vicinity of said subject without comment.

Why This Violates Physics (For Now)Почему это нарушает физику (пока)Why This Violates Physics (For Now)

The invention as claimed is Pending Physics Revision, the principal obstacle being not a single dispositive prohibition but a confluence of three distinct objections, each of which would suffice to defeat the apparatus in its present form.

First, the encoding of declarative memory in the substrate of the human brain is, at the date of issuance, not understood with the precision that the invention requires. Although the contributions of the hippocampus, the medial temporal lobes, and the prefrontal cortex to declarative memory are well-established by the lesion studies of Scoville and Milner (1957) and others, the engram itself — the specific physical configuration in which a single memory is stored — has not been isolated. The memory-targeting display of claim 4 presupposes the resolution of the engram problem at a level of detail not presently available; the Bureau has accepted into evidence the inventor's representations as to the contents of the display, but is unable to confirm them.

Second, the focused-positron beam of claim 3 is, in the Bureau's estimation, dangerous to the subject. A beam of 200 keV positrons of beam current ten milliamperes deposits approximately two megawatts of power into the focal volume; the subject's cranium, intervening between the nib and the targeted hippocampus, is not transparent at this energy and absorbs the bulk of the deposited power, producing thermal trauma. The Bureau notes that the inventor's specification calls for a duration of two milliseconds, which mitigates but does not eliminate the difficulty.

Third, the substitute-memory carrier fluid is asserted by the inventor to encode the desired substitute memory in a quantum-mechanical superposition of protein bundle configurations. The Bureau notes that such encoding, if it could be achieved, would constitute a violation of the no-cloning theorem of Wootters and Zurek (1982) — the carrier fluid being effectively a copy of an arbitrary quantum-mechanical state, namely the state corresponding to the substitute memory. The inventor's response, on the prosecution record, is that the substitute memory is not an arbitrary unknown state but a prepared state of the operator's choosing, and that the no-cloning theorem accordingly does not apply. The Bureau finds this argument compelling for the carrier fluid in isolation but notes that the contact of the fluid with the disrupted engram involves a measurement upon the subject's pre-existing quantum-mechanical state, the cloning of which is prohibited by the theorem.

Fourth, the ethical position of the apparatus is, in the Bureau's view, irregular. Although the Bureau has not historically opined upon the moral character of inventions filed before it, and is not constitutionally competent to do so, the present application produces a class of subject — the recipient of a substituted memory — whose autobiographical narrative diverges from observable history in ways that may complicate the conduct of public affairs. The Bureau notes that the inventor has filed several supplementary applications addressed to the use of the apparatus in marital reconciliation and in the management of juvenile witnesses, and considers the implications worthy of further study before reduction to practice is undertaken at scale. Citations: Scoville, W. B. and Milner, B., J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 20, 11 (1957); Wootters, W. K. and Zurek, W. H., Nature 299, 802 (1982); Loftus, E. F., Memory: Surprising New Insights Into How We Remember and Why We Forget (1980).