The peak-end rule: why people chose more pain

Transcript

The people were once given a choice between less pain and more pain as most of them picked more. It was an experiment with painfully cold water. People held one hand in it for a minute and with the other hand they did a minute in the same cold water then they kept it in for 30 more seconds when the water got just a little less forth. So the second one was strictly worse because it was the same pain and then some more of it. Afterwards they were asked which one they'd rather do again and most of them chose the longer one. And why would anyone pick more pain? It's because memory really doesn't keep a running thought. What it holds on to most is the worst moment and the last one and the longer one ended in little bits. Researchers call this the peak end. It's why a trip with one terrible last day can feel like a bad trip even when most of it was amazing. I think this is worth remembering about anything in your life that's in your back. Maybe it's your college that ended with a fight with your friend or a job where the last one was awful. Your memory means really hard on the worst bit and on how it ended. But you lived all the middle parts too which were honestly maybe amazing and most of those years were good. So don't let the last 30 seconds tell you what the whole thing was ever in your life.

Transcribed automatically from the video, so small errors are possible.