In 2014, Timothy Wilson left volunteers alone in a bare room, without their phones, with one instruction: just think, for 15 minutes. A button let them give themselves an electric shock they had already tried and said they would pay money to avoid. Even so, 12 of 18 men and 6 of 24 women pressed it at least once. Being alone with our own thoughts can apparently feel worse than mild pain.
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.