The End-of-History Illusion

Why do we feel like we've changed so much in the past - but assume we won't change much in the future? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the End of History Illusion - the tendency to recognise how much we have changed, while underestimating how much we will continue to change. We often see our current personality, preferences, values, and goals as the finished version of ourselves, even though our past selves once felt exactly the same.

Discover why we struggle to imagine our future selves accurately, how this illusion shapes the choices we make today, and why the person you become may surprise you.

Studies and links:

The "end of history illusion" illusion | The British Psychological Society https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/end-history-illusion-illusion

The End of History Illusion | Jordi Quoidbach, Daniel T. Gilbert, Timothy D. Wilson https://dtg.sites.fas.harvard.edu/Quoidbach%20et%20al%202013.pdf