Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-26397825-20151211051732/@comment-24908808-20151229033909

Phantomlink959 wrote: It's this little thing called "common sense"

Memories are the single most complicated part of the human mind, they are a combination of chemical, physical, and elecrical signal intermixed in an incredibly complex and poorly understood fashion. In order to translate a memory from one person to another you have to copy over the specific neural pathways, determine the associated chemicals, and map the exact pattern of signal traveling along the related part of the brain. THEN you have to translate those signals into a form that can be properly interpreted by the other person, and revrse the process to implant them.

Then you get down to the presumed science behind aura; energy coming from a persons neural net, forcibly rewriting memories would DESTROY that net, effectively reprogramming their soul. It's as complicated as making tangible clones, or creating hallucinations, or giving four young women unimaginable power. Perhaps even as complicated as moving a toe; they're all complicated processes in actuality, but are simple in function. After all, the  sciences behind everything is complicated -- down to atoms, molecules and whatnot. (Poor word choice on my behalf, but I believe you got the point.)

Perhaps poorly remembered memories cannot be transferred, or found in the mind at all. Frankly it can degrade down to transferring small memories like scent or emotion, but I personally think the ability to transfer memories can exist in the RWBY universe, just not in real life, because other strange abilitites exist as well.

I think the thing that pulls this altogether is: Are brains connected to souls? A person's personality is found in their memories, which become integrated in their mindset. (When they are born they can become any person possible. Experiences (which are remembered as memories) shape them into people.) Instead of 'effectively reprogramming their soul', I prefer to think that only their mind is affected -- which is the intended effect.

A lot of this has to be altered to fit in with the RWBY universe.