Memory - why is it so unreliable?
We all make decisions based on our memory, as if in fact it was a reflection of reality. Here's why we shouldn't - because sometimes it isn't even close.
Did That Just Happen? How Your Brain Alters Mental Timelines

Exactly how the brain organizes memories in relation to each other in time has long puzzled scientists. In a new study, researchers set out to identify the nature of brain activity that puts a time stamp on our memories. 

An article by Bahar Gholipour, sets out an informative study of the peculiar functions of the brain as it relates to memory timelines. Click here. 
 
"Our memories are known to be 'altered' versions of reality, and how time is altered has not been well understood," said study researcher Lila Davachi, an associate professor of Psychology at New York University.

"People think their memories are a reflection of reality. They somewhat are, but they are a better reflection of what's happening inside their head," Davachi told Live Science.
The Myth of Wine Tasting

 In 2001, Frederic Brochet conducted two experiments at the University of Bordeaux. In one experiment, he got 54 oenology (the study of wine tasting and wine making) undergraduates together and had them taste one glass of red wine and one glass of white wine. He had them describe each wine in as much detail as their expertise would allow. What he didn't tell them was both were the same wine. He just dyed the white one red. In the other experiment, he asked the experts to rate two different bottles of red wine. One was very expensive, the other was cheap. Again, he tricked them. This time he had put the cheap wine in both bottles. So what were the results?

The tasters in the first experiment, the one with the dyed wine, described the sorts of berries and grapes and tannins they could detect in the red wine just as if it really was red. Every single one, all 54, could not tell it was white. In the second experiment, the one with the switched labels, the subjects went on and on about the cheap wine in the expensive bottle. They called it complex and rounded. They called the same wine in the cheap bottle weak and flat.

Memories, emotions, conditioning, and all sorts of other mental flotsam taint every new experience you gain. In addition to all this, your expectations powerfully influence the final vote in your head over what you believe to be reality.
Excerpt from "You Are Not So Smart" by McRaney, David.









your expectations powerfully influence the final vote in your head over what you believe to be reality
Want to Fail? Ignore Survivorship Bias.

When making decisions, from the most important to the least important - make sure sure you understand Survivorship Bias. Learn more here.