Tuesday, May 15, 2018

The Art of the Good Life #23 : The "Good Death" Fallacy



Short post because I'm not feeling good ( sprained my back ) and it's been a long night.

The "Good Death" Fallacy is a mistake we make because we not give any weight to a duration of an event.

Consider Anna who was single, unmarried and had no children. She had good friends and enjoyed going on long holidays. At age 30, she suddenly died in a car accident.

Now consider Beth who was also single, unmarried and had no children. She had good friends and enjoyed going on long holidays. The last five years of her life was not as good as her first 30 years. At age 35, she suddenly died in a car accident.

When asked to determine who lived a better life, most surveyed participants said that Anna had a better life even though Beth lived 5 years longer.

Our mind is prone to over emphasize the peak in each event and how each event ended.

The duration does not matter so much.




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