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The moment the fabric of time unravels—misalignment between chronology and memory When events occurring in close temporal proximity happen consecutively, people tend to perceive them as part of a single causal flow, even if they are actually unrelated. Memory is not merely a repository of events; it is a malleable entity that is edited each time it is recalled and reconstructed based on associations. Simply seeing events side by side causes stories to form within us, and meaning-making proceeds automatically. This is the result of System 1, responsible for instant judgments, employing an energy-saving mechanism to quickly understand a complex world. This misconnection manifests in countless everyday situations. For example, an event recalled just moments before can unnaturally amplify the intensity of subsequent judgments or emotions. We might also unconsciously link information that should be considered independently, influenced by numbers or data presented sequentially. T
hese illusions occur independently of our will, disrupting judgment accuracy and sometimes even excessively inflating our certainty. However, understanding that memory is not absolutely correct and taking a step back to observe the situation can curb the runaway of intuition and lead to more stable thinking.
Understanding this phenomenon offers more than just knowledge of cognitive biases; it provides crucial insight into how our own thoughts are shaped. Memory is fluid, constantly rewritten by external events and internal emotions. If a narrative emerges simply from the sequence of events, how we handle that narrative depends entirely on our conscious attitude.
As related information, psychology refers to this phenomenon as the causal illusion based on temporal contiguity, and it has been repeatedly studied in cognitive science and neuroscience. Kahneman's Fast and Slow explains how System 1 functions as a narrative generator, possessing the nature to understand the world by providing reasons.