A small emotional enhancement hack, likely in wide use.
Bookmarks
Bookmarks are recordings of emotional states. When a person with bookmark software experiences something, they can trigger a bookmark and store the current state. This is like a cut-down version of XP, leaving out sensory information but retaining overall limbic activation. When re-triggered it will partially restore the same emotional state as before. This way a person can build a library of useful or enjoyable emotional states – the rush of adrenaline from a skyjump, a relaxing dinner with a lover, a favourite orgasm, or the intense concentration during a good chess-game.
Of course, since circumstances have changed the bookmarked emotions rarely fit perfectly or are as strong as they originally were, but most users don’t care. Even remembering how it was may be enough to trigger more authentic emotions. It can be used as a crude emotional damper, simply by replaying the same calm bookmark again and again, but the effect is generally weaker than a real damper augmentation, unless the emotion is exactly right for the situation. Some people, “bookworms”, become addicted to their bookmarks and put them on repeat. Trying to escape from bad feelings they lock themselves into the same state all the time. Depending on state this might just be a minor quirk or a major life impairment.
While bookmark files can be copied across brains this usually doesn’t produce experiences similar to the original state (the brain micro-architecture is too different). A certain amount of translation and standardization is needed to turn them into generally useful XP. Some people nevertheless collect “amateur” emotions, finding them more authentic and interesting than professional experiences.
[Software cost: Low]
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