Daniel Gilbert asked junior professors in the US how unhappy they would be if they were denied tenure, the coveted job for life. They expected to be noticeably less happy for the following five years. Yet former colleagues who had actually been turned down were no less happy than those who had been promoted. We overlook our “psychological immune system,” which rationalizes and bounces back faster than we expect.
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.