So, you know how Kahneman says “The experiencing self lives in the present…”? It’s a game-changer because it reveals we’re basically two different people in one mind. One feels life as it happens, the other writes the story afterward. And that storyteller? It’s the one calling the shots on our future choices, for better or worse.
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Meaning
At its core, this quote means we have two distinct versions of ourselves: the one that actually lives through an event moment-by-moment, and the one that later remembers and defines that event, often based on just a few key moments.
Explanation
Let me break this down for you. The experiencing self is you, right now, sipping this coffee. It’s a continuous stream of consciousness—the warmth of the cup, the taste, the noise in the cafe. It has no memory. It just is.
Then there’s the remembering self. This is the narrator of your life. It doesn’t care about the duration of an experience, only the peak moments and how it ended. This is the self that keeps score. It’s the one that decides, “That was a great vacation,” or “That was a terrible meeting.” And here’s the kicker: when you plan your next vacation or walk into your next meeting, you’re not listening to your experiencing self. You’re listening to the storyteller. The remembering self is in the driver’s seat, learning (or mislearning) from the past.
Quote Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Category | Life (320) |
| Topics | experience (26), memory (50), self (15) |
| Literary Style | philosophical (434) |
| Emotion / Mood | reflective (382) |
| Overall Quote Score | 85 (305) |
Origin & Factcheck
This concept comes straight from Daniel Kahneman’s 2011 masterpiece, Thinking, Fast and Slow. It’s a key finding from his Nobel Prize-winning work on prospect theory. You sometimes see this idea misattributed to other behavioral economists, but it’s pure Kahneman, born from his extensive research, primarily in the US and Israel.
Attribution Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Author | Daniel Kahneman (54) |
| Source Type | Book (4032) |
| Source/Book Name | Thinking, Fast and Slow (54) |
| Origin Timeperiod | 21st Century (1892) |
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Authenticity | Verified (4032) |
Author Bio
Dr Daniel Kahneman transformed how we think about thinking. Trained in Israel and at UC Berkeley, he built a career spanning Hebrew University, UBC, UC Berkeley, and Princeton. His partnership with Amos Tversky produced prospect theory and the heuristics-and-biases program, culminating in the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He engaged broad audiences through bestselling books and practical frameworks for better decisions. He continued writing and advising late into life, leaving ideas that shape economics, policy, medicine, and management. If you want to dive deeper, start with the Dr Daniel Kahneman book list and explore his enduring insights.
| Official Website
Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | The experiencing self lives in the present, the remembering self keeps score, and governs what we learn from our experiences |
| Book Details | Publication Year: 2011; ISBN: 9780374275631; Latest Edition: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013; Number of pages: 499. |
| Where is it? | Part IV: Choices, Chapter 35: Two Selves, Approximate page 384 (2013 edition) |