In 1963, Stanley Milgram had volunteers deliver escalating electric shocks to a “learner,” actually an actor. Pressed by an experimenter in a lab coat, 26 out of 40 went up to 450 volts. Critics have since noted that some participants doubted the shocks were real, but a partial replication in 2009 found a similar rate of obedience.
Remembering is not replaying a recording — it is rebuilding. Each time you recall a memory, it becomes temporarily malleable and can be altered before being stored again. That is why two people can sincerely remember the same event… differently.
In 2003, Johnson and Goldstein compared European countries. Where you must tick a box to become a donor, consent rates ranged from 4% to 28%. Where you're a donor by default unless you opt out, they topped 85%. People aren't more generous on one side; most simply stick with whatever option was chosen for them.