Mind Warps Memory
“In piecing together a life story, the mind nudges moral lapses back in time and shunts good deeds forward, these new studies suggest—creating, in effect, a doctored autobiography.”
“In recent years psychologists have exposed the many ways that people subconsciously maintain and massage their moral self-image. They rate themselves as morally superior to the next person; overestimate the likelihood that they will act virtuously in the future; see their own good intentions as praiseworthy while dismissing others’ as inconsequential. And they soften their moral principles when doing a truly dirty job, like carrying out orders to exploit uninformed customers. Now, scientists are beginning to learn how memory assists and even amplifies this righteous self-messaging.”
