Linda, 31, bright, active against discrimination. Is it more likely she's a bank teller, or a bank teller and a feminist activist? About 85% of Tversky and Kahneman's participants chose the second. That's impossible: two conditions together are always less likely than one alone. The more detailed a story, the more it persuades us, and the less likely it is to be true.
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.