Thinking: Post#4 - Remembering vs Experiencing

Remembering Self vs. Experiencing Self: System 1 has a filter that neglects duration (oblivious to length of time) and focuses on peaks of either pleasure or pain and on how an experience ends (peak-end rule). We may remember an event that had bursts of pleasure and ended well as a great experience. Whereas, if something were actually better, lasted longer, but ended poorly, we remember it as far worse. Thus, our neglect of duration and exaggeration of peaks and ends seriously distort our perception of our memories, which plays tricks on us. This is called “the tyranny of the remembering self.” Essentially we write the narrative of our own life experiences and want them to end well so they’re remembered well. “Odd as it may seem, I am my remembering self, and the experiencing self, who does the living, is like a stranger to me” (p. 390).