In 1959, Neville Moray had people repeat aloud a message played into one ear while their first name was slipped into the other. Only about a third noticed it, a result confirmed in 1995. More surprising: a 2001 study found that people with low working memory caught their name most often, 65% versus 20% for those with the highest. According to the authors, the better you filter out distractions, the less your own name gets through.
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.