fucked up question, I know - but ultimately it’s a question about suffering and experience of personhood - did “you” really experience the torture for an hour if you don’t remember it later?
What about the hour where you were awake and present, before the memory is wiped? How much does that suffering matter? Does the fact that after the torture you won’t remember override the suffering you will experience in the present during the torture, relative to suffering you will remember the rest of your life?
no, that’s not how anaesthesia works - anaesthesia actually blocks the nerve signals communicating pain from getting to the brain in the first place, you never have the experiences to later forget
Fun stuff, Drugs. There are a few different drugs given for surgery.
Paralytics to keep you from moving. Blockers to prevent pain. And midazolam (a benzodiazepine) to help prevent the formation of memories.
General anesthesia is a cocktail of drugs, not just one.
true, and there is more than one kind of anaesthesia - I should have clarified I meant with typical general anaesthesia when drugs like propofol are used.
There are exceptions to the rule, but in general it’s not true that during surgery you experience everything and then just don’t remember later because of the drugs.