From: lexfridman
The concepts of the Experiencing Self and Remembering Self explore how we derive happiness and satisfaction not directly from our experiences, but from how we remember these experiences. This distinction is crucial in understanding the biases and narratives we attach to our memories and how they inform our decisions and perceptions of happiness.
Key Concepts
The Experiencing Self
The experiencing self is the part of us that lives in the present moment. It is concerned with the immediate experiences and sensations we are undergoing. According to Danny Kahneman’s framework, the experiencing self does not have the capacity to comprehend past or future experiences; it live solely in the now [00:05:01].
The Remembering Self
The remembering self is involved with memory, and thus, it plays a pivotal role in how we evaluate the happiness and satisfaction accrued from our life decisions. It is this self that narrates and makes sense of our life’s story. Our past experiences help shape the narratives the remembering self relies on, and it often distorts these to align with our biases or emotional peaks and troughs rather than presenting a faithful replay of the experiences [00:01:02].
How Memory Biased Decision-Making
When reflecting on past events, the process of remembering tends to be highly selective and influenced by emotional peaks and other pronounced moments, potentially leading to biased decisions [00:02:10]. People often make decisions based not on precise recollections but on memory impressions that can be significantly different from the initial experiencing [00:02:47].
The Biases of Memory
The remembering self tends to narrate stories that provide an illusion of stability and solemn coherence in our personal histories, despite the often fragmented way in which memories are formed and retrieved [00:03:00]. This constructed narrative is what gives us the perception that our life events are orderly and purposeful, which is not always accurate [00:03:46].
Biological Optimization & Memory’s Role
Memory is not just about recalling the past for its sake but is biologically optimized to help us interpret the present and predict the future [00:03:17]. Predictive models based on memory allow us to foresee future outcomes and plan accordingly, although they often are just imagined configurations rather than guaranteed forecasts [00:04:13].
Living a “Memorable” Life
The conversation explores the idea of living a memorable life by focusing on moments of significance and fostering meaningful relationships and experiences that can be fondly remembered. The suggestion is to engage actively in life events that could transform into joyful memories, thus allowing the remembering self to construct a satisfying narrative [00:07:08].
Expert Insight
Chan Ranganath explains that our recollection biases can alter the narrative of past events, distorting decisions that ostensibly rely on experience. The way we curate our memories can, therefore, determine personal satisfaction over time.
Conclusion
Understanding the dynamic interplay between the experiencing self and the remembering self helps us recognize the rich complexity of memory and how it informs personal happiness and decision-making. It invites us to not only appreciate our sensory experiences in the moment but also ponder on how these moments will be remembered and affect our future choices.