Тонкое искусство пофигизма

           Butwhenwe’resoberthenextweek,wedon’twanttoadmitthatwe’reabigfatliar,sowegoalongwiththerevisedandnewlyexpandeddrunkardversionofourstory.Andfiveyearslater,ourabsolutely,swear-to-god,swear-on-my-mother’s-grave,truer-than-truestoryisatmost50percenttrue.

           Wealldothis.Youdo.Ido.Nomatterhowhonestandwell-intentionedweare,we’reinaperpetualstateofmisleadingourselvesandothersfornootherreasonthanthatourbrainisdesignedtobeefficient,notaccurate.

           Notonlydoesourmemorysuck—sucktothepointthateyewitnesstestimonyisn’tnecessarilytakenseriouslyincourtcases—butourbrainfunctionsinahorriblybiasedway.

           Howso?Well,ourbrainisalwaystryingtomakesenseofourcurrentsituationbasedonwhatwealreadybelieveandhavealreadyexperienced.Everynewpieceofinformationismeasuredagainstthevaluesandconclusionswealreadyhave.Asaresult,ourbrainisalwaysbiasedtowardwhatwefeeltobetrueinthatmoment.Sowhenwehaveagreatrelationshipwithoursister,we’llinterpretmostofourmemoriesaboutherinapositivelight.Butwhentherelationshipsours,we’lloftencometoseethoseexactsamememoriesdifferently,reinventingtheminsuchawayastoexplainourpresent-dayangertowardher.ThatsweetgiftshegaveuslastChristmasisnowrememberedaspatronizingandcondescending.Thattimesheforgottoinviteustoherlakehouseisnowseennotasaninnocentmistakebutashorriblenegligence.