this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2025
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this is actually an amazing concept for a story, there are so many dynamics that could arise out of this.
It would just be a standard part of burials for someone to be assigned the brain of the deceased, with rituals to make it less disgusting and kinda hide that fact.
But since you're gaining their memories, it would also be kind of harrowing to be the assigned inheritor, you're basically just taking their entire mind into you, so you might end up designating an "avatar" person who is never given a chance to form their own personality and instead just spends their entire life carrying the sum total experience of those before them, and only rarely would someone else consume the memories of another if it's vital that they specifically gain that specific knowledge.
Like good lord, imagine having a legitimate god-emperor who is the physical embodiment of all those who have come before, who you yourself will almost certainly become part of when you die (unless your body is lost)..
Then imagine that person dying and the brain being lost, cutting off the 10 thousand year unbroken lineage.. terrifying
There is something similar to this in the Dresden Files. The Archive contains the sum of all written knowledge and inherits the memory of their predecessor.
Depending on how long the memories last, the first person to find a dead body or see someone die might be obligated to eat the brain. If they last longer, brains of skilled laborers might be highly commodified and the use of your brain highly regulated if it's at all important to the government.
Without spoiling too much, do yourself a favour and read the Dune books haha. Hint: book 4 is titled God Emperor of Dune.
"The Book of the New Sun" exists and is one of the most amazing things ever written. I can't recommend it enough but it comes with the caveat that you don't "read Gene Wolfe, you reread him".
https://youtu.be/T4GYEQynCv0