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Day to day Quote by Jennifer Senior

“In that same lecture, Kahneman confessed that the outsize power of the remembering self mystified him. “Why do we put so much weight on memory relative to the weight we put on experiences?” he asked the audience. “This is a bit hard to justify, I think.” But perhaps the answer is obvious…” quote by Jennifer Senior
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““In that same lecture, Kahneman confessed that the outsize power of the remembering self mystified him. “Why do we put so much weight on memory relative to the weight we put on experiences?” he asked the audience. “This is a bit hard to justify, I think.” But perhaps the answer is obvious: children. The remembering self ensures that we’ll keep having them. More than almost anything else, the experience of parenthood exposes the gulf between our experiencing and remembering selves. Our experiencing selves tell researchers that we prefer doing the dishes—or napping, or shopping, or answering emails—to spending time with our kids. (I am very specifically referring here to Kahneman’s study of 909 Texas women.) But our remembering selves tell researchers that no one—and nothing—provides us with so much joy as our children. It may not be the happiness we live day to day, but it’s the happiness we think about, the happiness we summon and remember, the stuff that makes up our life-tales.””

Jennifer Senior

About This Quote

Source Article: The Atlantic, “The Power of the Remembering Self” by Jennifer Senior, 2022

Our remembering self values children and family more than daily experiences, shaping life narratives despite mundane preferences.

In simple terms: Memory values family over daily tasks.

Key Takeaway

Cherish family memories.

Themes

family memory parenthood

Mood

reflective nostalgic

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

  • parenting
  • memory keeping
  • storytelling
  • psychology
  • life planning

Key Concepts

remembering self experience vs memory life narratives

Questions to Reflect On

  • How do you balance daily duties with family time?
  • What memories define your life story?
A Different Perspective

Memory can distort present reality.

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