Implications About Rekall (Total Recall)

[amigocabal]

In the 1990 movie (I had not seen the 2012 movie), Rekall advertised itself as giving virtual vacations via memory implants. Douglas Quaid did not know about ego trips until the salesman at Rekall told him about it. It seems ego trips were a recent enough innovation that it was not being widely advertised.

I speculate that in the future of that universe, Rekall focuses more on these ego trips. I mean, it's sort of like the premise of Quantum Leap- be anyone, do anything, go anywhere. People can relive childhood or adolescence. They can remember medieval Europe or a fantasy version of the future. They can be a dog or a cat or a horse or an ant. They can be historical figures like Abraham Lincoln or Genghis Khan, or fictional characters like Thor, Batman, or Goku.

I am surprised the implications of ego trips were not more fully explored.

[Batman]

What the everloving fuck has Total Recall (notice how there's no k in there?) got to do with Quantum Leap?

[Elheru Aran]

What the everloving fuck has Total Recall (notice how there's no k in there?) got to do with Quantum Leap?

Rekall, maybe ReKall, was the name of the company offering the 'ego trips'; Total Recall was the name of the movie.

I think he's drawing a parallel between the way Sam could 'leap' into other timelines and places, and the way that Rekall can plant a virtual trip in your mind. I can see it. I'm not sure there's much to actually discuss there, though.

[Darth Lucifer]

I am surprised the implications of ego trips were not more fully explored.

This would be better explored in the form of a TV series. I'm pretty sure similar scenarios have been done before in other media; in one story I vaguely remember from somewhere, the users would jack into the VR world but it became addictive like a drug, and it got to the point to where the people would steal, rob and even murder, whatever it took so they could pay for another trip.

[Solauren]

First, we had the risks of psyczoid-embolisms from the ego-trip. (Remember the one doctor said 'we've got ANOTHER'), so the procedure is risky.
The more you do it, the riskier it probably gets. Cause fucking with the brain is always safe.

Second, you have to develop the memories, and make them suitable for general implantation (as opposed to implantation into a specific individual). The company only had 4 options listed. I'm willing to bet beside the 'love interest', it was all the same narrative. So, after 4 trips, you'd done them all.

Third, because of the limited number of narratives, it becomes more like you all used the same holodeck program.


Fourth, because of the medical risks, the government will eventually come down on it and regulate the shit out of it, meaning that you'd have to go through a screening process, meet medical requirements, etc, which would make it more expensive, more time consuming, and probably less attractive.


However, if you licked those problems for cheap, easy, safe mass production, yeah, it could be useful and fun.