Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Not a Memorable Conversation


At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

What if you could make someone forget their conversation with you? Not that they saw you or talked to you, necessarily, but just what was said.

18 comments:

  1. That's a good one. I know I have forgotten conversations during fights with hubby, which is probably a good thing. Not sure if the same held true with him though :) I think it would come in handy for those times we tend to say things we truly regret. Which is why I guess we should always be careful with what we say.

    betty

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    1. Yes, that would be a good time for the power--"forget the argument we just had"...

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  2. I love the Tuesday posts! More times than not, unfortunately, I wish I could make a conversation go away, but it's always the 'forgive but not forget' issue with these things.

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  3. That would be nice. I think an "undo" button would help. When we say the wrong thing, we just need to go back and redo the situation!

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  4. Cool power. You could tell someone what you really think about them and then erase it. Or you could judge their reaction to what you tell them and then "retry" the conversation for another outcome. There's a lot of potential for manipulation here, which might make for an interesting story.

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  5. Oh when I have foot in mouth disease, i would love it but when I am proving my husband wrong, i want it etched in his brain:)

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  6. There are so many conversations I wish I could erase...

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  7. I'm always over analyzing conversations I had and thinking I shouldn't have said things. I'm always apologizing for things people didn't even hear. I think the truth is people never listen to what I'm saying anyway.

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    1. People don't listen to what most people are saying most of the time. So, it isn't just you.

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  8. Sounds like an awesome premise for a book! How cool would it be to make convos disappear when it suited you!!

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    1. It would make for an interesting superpower.

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  9. I've had some job interviews I wouldn't mind deleting. And during arguments, I think we all occasionally say things we mean in the moment but don't mean forever. Also, during those instances when we're not sure we should be 100% truthful and are afraid the truth might do more harm than good, it would be lovely to be able to test it out and hit reverse if necessary. Very handy power to have.

    VR Barkowski

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  10. I think I would like that! I've definitely had some conversations in the past that I walked away thinking, "what the heck did I just say? And why did I say that?" :)

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  11. It's reassuring to see on just a quick scroll through previous comments how many other people commented that they would love that ability after saying something they regret. I didn't see any one else mention my frequent fear of coming across as heartless by failing to say the right thing. I'd like a chance to redo those conversations too.

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I appreciate your comments.

I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.

*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.