I think that I fall victim to the hindsight illusion quite frequently. After I make a mistake, I will often lament to myself, “I should have known that was going to happen.” I will not pretend that it does not frustrate me either when things seem so clear in retrospect. After reading this chapter, I understand that I should not be so hard on myself.
In his book, Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman explains that, ““We are prone to blame decision makers for good decisions that worked out badly and to give them too little credit for successful moves that appear obvious only after the fact. When the outcomes are bad, the clients often blame their agents for not seeing the handwriting on the wall—forgetting that it was written in invisible ink that became legible only afterward. Actions that seemed prudent in foresight can look irresponsibly negligent in hindsight.” In other words, whereas before an event occurs, even if a large amount of uncertainty is known to exist, it is easy to retrospectively conclude that the answer was more obvious all along. This act gives less credit where it is due and seeks more punishment in the face of prior uncertainty.
It is easy to focus on the ‘shoulds’ and the ‘could haves’. I think that this chapter helps quell those doubts that we face in light of retrospective knowledge. I do not think that anyone would purposefully act in a way that they knew that they would later regret if they knew with certainty what that future looked like. In light of this, I think that we should be more gentle with ourselves and others.
This action, however, should not detract from employing a moral compass. Simply stating that the act was done in uncertainty or without a certain intention does not dismiss responsibility of one’s actions. It does, however, encourage us to try to be more understanding of ourselves and those around us.
I enjoyed this chapter of Thinking Fast and Slow. Not only did it provide me with introspective clarity, but it also helped me identify overcritical patterns of thinking that occur frequently. I hope to be able to use this new information, although I understand that we are naturally programmed to do such, I think that now I can identify instances when I am over- or under- critical and try to change.
I think this is a really interesting concept. I’ve enjoyed learning about the book through the experiences of my elder PLA peers reading it. I think in an age where technology oversaturated our lives its very easy to live in a time other than the present. Pictures, videos, Timehops, and many other mechanisms constantly remind us of things in the past and also present them in a way that can disrupt our present. If one these were to contain something that became glaringly obvious or changed with hindsight, it becomes obvious why one may lament a specific event or experience. Nostalgia is a topic I find to be incredibly interesting and it is very similar to living through a veil of hindsight. The desire to return to another time or era really distorts the way things occurred as they were unfolding.
Gabby,
I know exactly how you feel and those inner thoughts of “I should have known that was going to happen.” happen to me too. It’s so easy to look back and try to reason out why you did this or why you did that when, now that you know the outcome it seemed so clear cut and simply regarding what you should have done. I really enjoyed this chapter of the book to and I was also able to take a lot out of it and apply it to my life. I agree that we are all ‘programmed’ to feel like this but now that we are aware of the situation and will be able to mentally take note of it when it happens, hopefully, like you said, be easier on ourselves.
Brittany