You won’t remember this week.

*|FNAME|*, I read a few days ago —but can’t find it now— about how this current Coronavirus Clampdown is going affect our perceptions of this past summer due to time compression.

The idea is an off-shoot of the “peak-end rule:” we generally remember the peaks of an experience (the most emotional –usually positive– parts), and we generally remember how something ends.

Continue reading “You won’t remember this week.”

10 Things You’ll Learn from “Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)” by Tavris & Aronson

“Why do you hate so-and-so, so much?” And he had answered them, with his shameless impudence, “I’ll tell you. He has done me no harm. But I played him a dirty trick, and ever since I have hated him.”

–Dostoyevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov”

Can you justify such behavior? Image from Steve Martin's movie "The Jerk", 1979
Cat Juggling! Can you justify such behavior? Image from Steve Martin’s movie “The Jerk”, 1979

The human brain is excellent at keeping itself free of blame. We have a self-image that we’re a good person, and we also do things that harm others. The cognitive dissonance this causes can be uncomfortable… until we rewrite our memories or justify our actions. Continue reading “10 Things You’ll Learn from “Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)” by Tavris & Aronson”