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memory
You rewrite your memory to claim you saw it coming.
Fischhoff (1975) demonstrated that after an event occurs, people consistently overestimate their ability to have predicted the outcome.
Once a fact is known, your brain instantly organizes your memory to fit the new information, making the event feel inevitable. This leaves you feeling as though your past self was much more perceptive than they actually were.
You are a master at tricking yourself into believing you knew the future.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Baruch Fischhoff, 1975, Journal of Experimental Psychology
- What the check found
- Fischhoff (1975) is the seminal study identifying 'hindsight bias.' The citation is accurate and the described effect is well-established in psychology.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.