"The entire world is about to forget"
"that Peter Parker is Spider-Man."
"Wait, everyone?"
Our entire planet wakes up
in mass confusion.
No one knows where or who they are.
While the MCU has Spider-Man
and Dr. Strange to fix this mess,
our world wouldn't be as lucky.
So what would happen if
everyone's memories disappeared?
Your mind creates memories
in three stages.
First, you encode what you
learned or experienced.
Then this information gets stored
in the depths of your mind.
Finally, you recall these memories
to remember faces, interests,
perform simple tasks or stay alive.
But some events are so traumatic
that your brain might suppress
those memories or create
an alternative version of events.
This internal process might protect you from reliving painful memories.
Erasing harmful moments
could help you cope better.
In Spider-Man: No Way Home,
the Sorcerer Supreme attempts to erase
everyone's memories of the hero's secret identity.
"Peter Parker!"
But if everyone's memories disappeared, chaos could reign in the streets.
This wouldn't be like amnesia.
That condition, often brought on by health problems or physical trauma,
can make it harder for you
to form new memories or learn.
With this total mind wipe,
the details that make up your life and personality could be gone forever.
Well, in therapy sessions,
some doctors have implanted
false memories in patients
to help get rid of their fears.
Eh, well, that treatment is questionable.
But if the experiences that shaped
your life were replaced by fiction,
Removing traumatic memories could help
many people cope better with everyday life.
But it would take away every moment that brought you joy too.
Your favorite band maybe
become noise to you.
The ol' webhead may want to forget the
time Thanos snapped him out of existence,
but he wouldn't remember his first kiss either.
No, not that one.
Wrong timeline.
And with your memories gone,
As you learn and develop skills,
your brain creates synaptic routes
that pass signals faster.
As you repeat specific actions, these tasks become automatic.
These are procedural memories.
So even if your memories are gone,
you could still remember life skills like
writing, swimming or even driving a car.
But you could lose your declarative memories.
That's information that requires effort to remember.
So while a pilot may remember how to fly,
they may not know where they're going.
Now, if everyone's minds were completely distorted,
Without your memories,
everyone from your former life would be a stranger.
Photos and keepsakes of your loved ones wouldn't seem real.
Your mind could start
to blur memories and imagination.
So unlike the film,
the reality of our timeline wouldn't change,
just your perception of it.
And while everyone in the Marvel Universe might forget Spider-Man's secret identity,
so would Spider-Man.
Well, unless Dr. Strange had a customized spell for the wall-crawler.
Losing your memories and starting fresh
could be just as traumatic as any pain you've already experienced.
But what if this was just a glitch in the system?
What if we were living in a computer simulation?
Well, adjust your tinfoil hat because that's a story for another WHAT IF.