The riddle of experience vs. memory | Daniel Kahneman

www.ted.com Using examples from vacations to colonoscopies, Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman reveals how our "experiencing selves" and our "remembering selves" perceive happiness differently. This new insight has profound implications for economics, public policy -- and our own self-awareness.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

[@sirushti1132]

RIP to this brilliant man.

[@jlc012]

Now I know why those fuckers at disney spend millions in incredible fireworks shows with heart warming music just before they close the park. They know that your remembering self will soon forget the incredibly long lines, overpriced merchandise, sore feet, etc. And all that will remain is that last memory when everything was magical if only for that brief moment. And you will keep coming back for more.

[@belovedho]

jlc012 lol

[@d0rv]

jlc012 You better believe they have money to do that research and implement the results

[@ryanw1140]

So much emphasis on "the grand finale"

[@DanielGennaro]

I was making the same relation to the news.... 28 minutes worth of FEAR and the last 2 minutes of some puppy dog rescued from a tree or the 3 year old doing a good deed..... lol

[@alinao625]

This man is brilliant! ...."We don't choose between experiences, we choose between memories of experiences." ..."We think about the future as anticipated memories."

[@TheDionysianFields]

Yes, but it's really all about subjective well-being, which is a term he failed to mention. We don't just remember, we subconsciously analyze. We also do a lot of comparing our lives to our friend's and neighbor's.

[@mdarrenu]

@@TheDionysianFields He's a smart guy - but it seems its always about reframing the words - to me, what's the different between memories of experiences and experiences. Semantics.

[@fineasfrog]

@@mdarrenu Is there a difference in experiencing a kiss now and remembering the kiss a day, a week, a year later? Better yet consider this. Rumi said: "There is some kiss we want with the whole of our lives." Rumi is referring to a transformation of our ordinary consciousness. Our ordinary consciousness can be seen to start with the development of the ordinary sense of being a separate self. And that self can be happy or not happy (and all gradations in between). After the 'kiss' that Rumi refers to which may take 10, 20, 30 years or more, we are left with a consciousness that is joyful regardless of circumstances or passing thoughts that may be occurring in the moment.

[@MylesKillis]

@@mdarrenu memories are incomplete and biased by other memories and emotions. If you read the book you'd know that.

[@ValeFero]

This is obvious actually. You can only choose from what you remember.

[@woohooflowers]

love his quote "We think about the future as anticipated memories"

[@AWesome01234]

You were a great influence in my life. RIP. You and your wisdom will be missed.

[@onemanenclave]

'Money doesn't buy you happiness, but lack of money certainly buys you misery.'

[@arunagunatilake]

Fled From Nowhere Lack of money buys you opportunities

[@thomasrobert9743]

do you know if he has published those results?

[@mrp9023]

Strange, some of the happiest people I have met have had little to no money...

[@Q_QQ_Q]

lol

[@markt7381]

you cannot 'buy' misery...but you can choose to experience misery..in that contrast / conntext

[@WorldCollections]

Key point: "What defines a story are changes, significant moments and endings; endings are very, very important. [...] Time has very little impact on the story."

[@xlynx9]

All is well that ends well; all is bad that ends bad. Romantic relationships are the quintessential example of this.

[@sawdust6148]

gammarayburst Good point

[@andrewrae8064]

brah moment

[@moctarbebaha7582]

I am here while reading thinking fast and slow

[@shouryadriptasircar3923]

Same!

[@mudassirshahzadkk]

Same for me. Amazon book.

[@riefkariefani7552]

Me too!

[@dileepkumar-td6xv]

Same here !!

[@squareknowledge3153]

Hope it makes you learn faster

[@AH-mf6su]

"We don't choose between experiences, we choose between memories of experiences" & "future choices are not about experiences, they are about anticipated memories" ... something to think about when designing for an experience!

[@berni1602]

I just finished reading his book "thinking fast and slow" and I have to admit that it's amazing! The theories it includes as well as the examples and mental exercises we get to do, makes the book an interesting activity, interacting with it is great. I admire a lot this man: merging psychology and economics. A must-read book.

[@yteuropehdgaming9633]

The Muller-Lyer illusion at the beginning of the book was quite interesting. That illusion by itself shows how our brain is susceptible to making mistakes when it comes to impulsive and automatic reactions.

[@irevelato]

I love how he leaves people waiting for every word he is about to say

[@alexandredecourspianonancy2093]

This is pure genius. Thank you for your work Dnaiel Kahneman.

[@waqaryounas2856]

RIP, Daniel. You changed the way I used to think.

[@shubham_k]

Clearly, the remembering self dominates the experiencing self. It's been so well illustrated in Thinking Fast And Slow. Incredible video quality of this Ted Talk, though it's 11 years old.

[@KaneyoshiSouji]

I'm completely floored. Wow. Amazing talk. (And his voice is so comforting!)

[@katarinaveltri9144]

im completely ceilinged

[@isamisset1578]

An excerpt of this TED talk was used in my philosophy final exam I took today! Incredibly interesting!

[@marcellocapone4925]

One of the best talks on TED. I can't believe I didn't see this sooner.

[@kaustubhchakrabarti2400]

Loved the speech sir. Thank you so much. It is a privilege to learn from you

[@mawriter]

정말 훌륭하고 감명깊은 영상이었습니다. 감사합니다 교수님.

[@gypsylady3200]

One of my favorite TEDtalks!

[@zadeh79]

Here is a quote regarding JOhn Von Neumann, "Two bicyclists start twenty miles apart and head toward each other, each going at a steady rate of 10 mph. At the same time a fly that travels at a steady 15 mph starts from the front wheel of the southbound bicycle and flies to the front wheel of the northbound one, then turns around and flies to the front wheel of the southbound one again, and continues in this manner till he is crushed between the two front wheels. Question: what total distance did the fly cover? The slow way to find the answer is to calculate what distance the fly covers on the first, northbound, leg of the trip, then on the second, southbound, leg, then on the third, etc., etc., and, finally, to sum the infinite series so obtained. The quick way is to observe that the bicycles meet exactly one hour after their start, so that the fly had just an hour for his travels; the answer must therefore be 15 miles. When the question was put to von Neumann, he solved it in an instant, and thereby disappointed the questioner: "Oh, you must have heard the trick before!" "What trick?" asked von Neumann, "All I did was sum the geometric series." It's clear then that certain solutions are best developed with less conscious deliberation, rather the ability to automatically attract distant ideas into some novel permutation, and then upon a slight moment of reflection, realize there is something useful there.

[@crow1999x]

Smart dude

[@fahimahmed9567]

+Ztech im curious to kno.......

[@TheRABIDdude]

The last sentence (if you can even call it that) is way too wordy for people to understand. I've read it over 6 times and I'm still not sure what you're trying to say. It's a shame because the rest of it was pretty interesting and I'd like to know the take-home message. English please.

[@pineapplegodguy]

@@TheRABIDdude if you are not too zealous you will need to create detours for solving problems, which might actually help shed a different light on the problems themselves. Von Neumann in this example was way too "mathematically zealous", so he did not have to take the detour to solve the problem and, on this occasion, he passed on the chance to uncover a deeper idea.

[@patrickellah9803]

TheRABIDdude Von Neumann need to “think Slow” even though his “Fast thinking” capabilities outstripped, in terms of speed, normal abilities. He was a renowned polymath after all.

[@jiahuizhang8493]

I blind-picked thinking fast and slow at a bookstore last month. I was about one third into the book now and wondered to watch his presentations. I was listening to this talk and browsing the comments, and then realized he passed away a day ago 😢 RIP Daniel. You will forever be remembered 🙏

[@hotmango5647]

I actually started his book like 3 days after his death

[@mcleanephatha]

This Ted talk is so underrated!

[@theprimalpitch190]

"... a reluctance to admit complexity..." - nailed it! AND "Endowed with a better story" - now we're validating (legitimately) Tony Robbins who gives clients a positive story about their life past/present and future. Great stuff here.

[@orawal]

Wow. I am so glad to have seen this extraordinarily inspiring video! What a wonderful orator and a human being! I will from now on be looking at life though a different lens. thanks for posting this!

[@jakeblues9255]

RIP Daniel Kahneman

[@Whatever4103uh8k]

His book "Thinking fast and slow" is really good! Everyone should read and learn from it.

[@puellanivis]

I like this. I noticed a lot of this while playing a certain popular game online. So many people focus and rush through the game to get to the best armor and the best level, etc... so much so that they forget to enjoy GETTING there.

[@a.avicenna2153]

A brilliant lecture from the author of the inspiring book „thinking fast and slow“

[@puellanivis]

I think they "enjoy" themselves as well... that's the whole idea behind this lecture. These people are driven to "happiness" by accomplishment, rather than enjoying each individual moment. I've been a part of a few projects, and there is a big "high" that one gets by accomplishing a goal, and that targets our remembering selves. We almost see it as a "I'm wearing myself thin to accomplish something that I'll remember." Each minute on Mt. Everest is pretty crappy, but the top is awesome.

[@kwameanane-crane5145]

This is really good....I now see why I don't feel happy despite having a great life now...I am burdened by my remembering self!

[@saltymat2052]

They are distinct but also can affect each other at the same time so it is so complicated

[@projectjt3149]

This really reminds me of the story behind the Veggietales film "It's a Meaningful Life" (a spin-off of "It's a Wonderful Life"). In it, the main character is living a pretty wealthy life. He is managing a strong family business and has a loving wife and kids. Yet, he wouldn't say he has a "happy" life because what lingers in his head is if he caught a football in an important game for his school's football team. It hurts him even more when he realizes the one who caught the ball is a star. There we have the contrast between living a "happy" life and looking at oneself as a "happy" person. And there's no correlation but rather a division of these two things (until the main character resolves this conflict).

[@private440]

thank you so much for inventing behavioral economic :)

[@archiscape]

A Box of Memories Yesterday I lived the past, I yearned and yearned for it to last But oh, how time will not stand still, It surges on against the will. Your dreams your scenes of yester year, They waft they flow so crystal clear, You almost hear the voices sound, You stand, you wait, you look around. But oh, the surging heartbeat quells Neath the blackbird’s song and summer smells, You journey on in ecstasy You realise, it’s just a box of memories. Christy 1922-2005

[@Lokitoh]

asked and answered... you speak in a really deep way

[@__fibo__]

probably the most fascinating TED talk I have seen!

[@GORMLESSwonder]

This is profound, anyone with a mastery of this idea could make their lives far more fulfilling.

[@amanjha3020]

This is so life changing, god damn. Thank you.

[@tonysouter8095]

Loved it. One thing though, if we're going to get technical: since we can't be aware of the psychological present until it's loaded into our memory and registered in consciousness, perhaps we should distinguish "the experiencing self" and "the remembered self" instead as the self based on recently loaded and still-activated memory, versus memory now dormant but still retrievable into the focus of attention? (The last bit is VERY Kahnemanian!)

[@CountaPhobia]

I look at it a bit differently, and more from an evolutionary perspective. The experiencing self is something we probably share with most other animals. The remembering self is the attempt made by the brain to reflect and make future decisions based on past experiences. Because the remembering self is so new it is full of flaws and biases.

[@jagannathshenoy9940]

Good one, worth listening and understand better 'experiencing happiness. !

[@versatileveritas]

one of the best ted talk

[@bharatpopat9835]

Daniel is a great thinker. If you like this video, you must read his two books - "Thinking - fast and slow" and "Noise" (he is the co-auther of the second title). I just loved both

[@marctwain8273]

get it

[@redchangoTRDD]

As a fellow hiker, I understand what you are saying. Two possibilities I can think of; it's either 'suffering that you want vs. suffering you don't want' ... or 'suffering due to one's own activities vs. suffering at the hands of others'. I'm thinking the latter because there is that sense of achievement after a long hike.

[@CherieHanson]

We construct our reality in our revisioning of experience. Knowing the present is one of the most difficult skills in life. Keeping score is what we practice and become brilliant at constructing. fascinating to see how quickly we restructure an experience after living it. miliseconds.

[@VinhNguyen-cr6pt]

Very interesting and useful talk.

[@damorevo4013]

Larry David is such a smart guy

[@nataliaskubida1195]

Damo Revo a much underrated comment

[@politicsgeek]

Damo Revo ahaha good one

[@johnrodrigues429]

Hahaha

[@not1AM]

amazing talk.. I really like it

[@1schwererziehbar1]

but when you stop yourself when it's still easy you will look at what you have achieved so easily and feel good and look forward to working again the next day. this works very well for me.

[@Human_Evolution-]

Memories of Experience. Brilliant!

[@foroodfaraji7386]

it was the best Ted talk that I ever seen

[@zizu3499]

This just blew my mind

[@INDIANXxhgpp9907]

4:00our memories tell us stories 6:30 what defines a story 9:10 experiencing self

[@osh007]

Thank you so much dada

[@MarekAndreansky]

I sure as hell am! Though I vaguely remember watching this before I even heard about the book.

[@dharmatycoon]

This is the most important ted talk of all time

[@SusmitaBarua_mita]

Is remembering self what we call 'awareness' that is free of time and place boundaries? Do we remember 'emotionally charged meaningful events good or bad' more than emotionally flat neutral events? I agree the happiness of the remembering 'self aware' self that is making a journey thru time to fulfill its promise/purpose/potential is what ultimately matters.

[@frankvandermerwe4002]

Just Amazing

[@SSSyndrome214]

Definitely one of the better TED talks. I can tell this one is going to have me thinking about how to maximize my memory of happiness rather than my fleeting experience of happiness over the next few days.

[@krugger911]

I know this was 10 years ago, but I interpreted this talk very differently, and I wonder who of us is wrong. I don't think he's arguing that we need to pander more to our reflective self - in fact, he makes it quite clear that the reflective self is fallible. I'd argue actually that this talk highlights the need for mindfulness and genuine connection with experience, rather than doing things solely for the anticipated memories.

[@ChrisStapper]

Just happened on your comment. During the video i was reminded of Philip Zimbardo (the psychologist who got famous with the students as guardians/prisoners experiment). He wrote a book about experience of time (The Time paradox), which makes precisely this distioncion (positive/negative past, hedonistic/fatalistic present and future orientation). I think Zimbardo's book could be worth reading to those who find the time-experience subject interesting.

[@madvorakCZ]

Very inspiring speech!

[@ashsharma477]

So is he saying that we should live then to create good memories for our remembering self (make sure it ends well and has lots of changes but doesn't necessarily need to be enjoyable throughout) or that we should strive to live in the experiencing self in which we fight recollection of experience all together?

[@wilsonpaulodeoliveirajunio7796]

Obrigado seu Marcus espero que jaja abaixe a poeira. Infelizmente sabe como somos odiamos perder 👊🏿

[@nelan3334]

TED has finally talked in this video! :)

[@BigBen81]

@mattpier sensitive to the facts... i like how you worded that and i agree with your opinion as a whole...

[@bruceli9094]

Experience is usually temporary, while memories are lasting. That's why people take photos of an event of adventure because they want it be lasting in their minds, and memories can fade. So, experience and memory; both are as real to our Psyche as we want it to be.

[@GetMeThere1]

@ tecnoblix: Great point! It's the same with my love life: the few relationships I've had that seemed almost perfect I virtually NEVER think about; the one's that were MISERABLE I think about all the time!

[@rupamjoshi7936]

Game of thrones, Endings are very very important....

[@dij7878]

This is a GREAT presentation! The 33 "dislikes" are just plain idiots. There is no good rational reason to dislike this informative and educational presentation.

[@davidwilkie9551]

This talk goes with that other "Fast and Slow" book, because if you are who you think, then the rate of processing which memories, qualifies who you are, happy or other-wise.

[@mr.g4999]

What a great master!!!

[@user-us6ig3jj1l]

رائع وملهم المحاضرة تستحق الاشادة بها

[@lizgichora6472]

Thank you!

[@Sojourneer]

Interesting insights, with applicability to self-image, community, and perhaps even morality.

[@utubepredator]

Have you ever tried to go on with your day, and look at every second of it as if you were watching an old videotape of a day in your grandfather's life? It's a guaranteed weird sensation, and can get you depressed, but can also shake you up like nothing else. Plus you risk becoming more serious about everything you do...

[@Shimas47]

Very interesting lecture. It is very interesting how Mr. Kahneman makes distinction between the two notions of happiness. But maybe we could eliminate the confusion that arises from mixing up these notions, by simply calling the experienced happiness "a pleasure". Wouldn't that sound right, and be easier?

[@RanjeetSingh-nr5sg]

One of my best watch

[@tayziawatson8886]

this is a beautiful video. please listen. please share.

[@chronotality]

A question does one influence the other. Can thinking about happiness bring me to experience it? And does stopping to think about happiness while experiencing it influence it?

[@violetchristophe]

You guys take vacations? Wow, sounds pretty neat. The part about vacations got me, as I tend to not want to take any. I already know that I probably won't remember most of the experience, so they seem pointless to me for "making memories". Also, taking long periods of time off seems to require getting far ahead in work and playing some catch up after returning.

[@marjolijnkeereweer]

mind blowing

[@GaryZenkerStoryteller]

I think that this is the guy who did a great interview for NPR a couple of weeks ago. Significant stuff when you are trying to have people have positive experiences!

[@pelicanbird901]

The question about public policy based on these findings is based on the wrong premise. It is not the role of government to provide us with happiness, but to protect our rights of pursuit of happiness. BIG difference.

[@WoWanate]

fantastic ted talk.

[@Ebvardh]

I've been trying to defeat this cognitive bias in my day to day life and I've had quite an interesting result regarding pain and accidents. I don't really feel them now. I've always been very clumsy and accident prone, I've broken a couple of bones and gotten into a bunch of fights, so I'm very familiar with pain. What I've discovered is that people exaggerate their pain. If you hit your head, the worst part is only the first few seconds, and that's it. Now I'm more able to "walk the pain off".

[@JohnnyArtPavlou]

Ebvardh Boss, I try to distinguish pain pain and suffering. Which is easier to do when I'm not experiencing pain.

[@shanmarshmellow4947]

I'm literally only here because I am studying Psychology and this work has been set for me, haha

[@wecx2375]

Really easy answer, the you need memories for future planning that's why the experiencing self doesn't dominate.

[@hussainzainal6196]

Interesting topic

[@jacobscrackers98]

I think he runs with his distinction between remembering self and experiencing self without backing it up enough. What justifies thinking about it in terms of different selves, different people (what does it mean to have multiple selves per person?) as opposed to simply different acts? Is remembering not a kind of experience?

[@kaiquesarzi6953]

Brilliant!!

[@samala51]

Meditation has changed my life, and improved my memory (minor side effect).

[@vascoamaralgrilo]

Thanks!

[@doug24444]

Excellent.

[@paulmaloney2383]

I am not sure if I was happy before I saw this video or happier after I saw it

[@KhoaLe-iq6lx]

When preparing for the presentation, Kahneman was asked to present in the traditional TED way: memorised speech. During the rehearsal, it was clearly shown that he was not comfortable doing it. He preferred to be able to look into his notes on his laptop. So TED let him use his laptop, under one condition that he must make as much eye contacts with the audience as possible.

[@Radjehuty]

@Waranoa I think it would be better to interpret his talk as an analogy for how people think. Just because you can't find physical evidence doesn't mean that you can clearly make a distinction between how happy you are during the experience and how satisfied you are with the memories of those experiences.

[@UnluckyGambler]

he's saying the memory of an experience is different from experiencing something. and i agree because ive thought about this myself. for example, i assume u have eaten an apple before. think about an instance of u eating an apple from ur memories. u remember how it tastes, u remember how it felt, how juicy it was, its color, texture. but what u sense when u remember that experience is different from what u sense when u eat the same type of apple again.

[@MrCire69]

My experiencing self seemed to enjoy this talk. My remembering self is not sure what to think.

[@sambitnes]

this guy is very smart.. i just felt like i needed to comment on this

[@johnplink]

I remember reading a discussion in which the author poses the following question: Would you be willing to pay for a wonderful experience if you would not be able to remember it? The discussion I remember reading is almost identical to the one starting at 11:13, so I believe Daniel Kahneman is the author of the book I read. Can anyone tell me the title of the book and where the discussion appears?

[@ujjwalmishra928]

Thinking fast and slow

[@johnplink]

@@ujjwalmishra928 Thank you.