The Recency Bias

We are all biased towards our recent experiences. Recent experiences become so disproportionately important that everything old context is undervalued. This is how our brain works. This is how orgs even function. This happens with events, experiences, information, emotions, whatnot. 

Our brain doesn't replay old experiences. It reconstructs them. And that reconstruction is instructed through the current state of our brain. The current state of our brain might be different from what it was when we were in the middle of the experience; the brain is reconstructing. This helps us move past bad experiences. But it also stops us from seeing the brighter side. If one experiences 3 nights of sleeplessness, suddenly it becomes hard to visualise how it felt to sleep peacefully, what it meant, and when was the last time - already feels like a decade. This is the recency bias. 

If we have a fear of something, that adds more weight to how our memories are reconstructed. If we have positivity towards something again, it adds weight to how memories are reconstructed. Our memories actively shape us. They had shaped us in the past, in the moment. They would still be shaping us again, but differently, depending on our reconstruction. 

I am no different. I'm also human. I have probably reconstructed so much of my experiences to be on the positive side, on the brighter side. Helps me to see the good side. What if they weren't true? I don't care much. What if I am doing the same in the present? What if I am creating the same illusion for others? I do care about this.