“The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our pat act or word because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loth to disappoint them.” …
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall.”
— From Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”
Emerson wrote to encourage his readers to state the truth plainly, and act honorably, regardless of past fashions or our past opinions. In the same passage, he goes on to ask what would be the worst suspicion people could form? Is it that you’ve changed your mind? Is it that they no longer understand you? Emerson responds with an immortal passage, listing such perennial luminaries as Ghandi and Jesus, observing that even though these men are indisputably commendable, we’d be hard-pressed to find anyone more misunderstood throughout history. Emerson concludes with his famous assertion, “To live is to be misunderstood.” To live out truth, one must forfeit any hope of being understood to be consistent.
While Emerson was admonishing his readers against capitulating to being thought consistent in societal matters, we’ll continue our discussion of consistency in a slightly different setting; within our own minds. Just as people often defer to convention in social settings, so our current opinions can alter our memories of our own past actions and even how we perceive ourselves. Our memories are not neutral recordings, like an autonomous camcorder, but are embedded with emotional cues, personal meanings, and private interpretations. What’s more, our highly subjective memories are always being subtly altered.
Our memories work by recalling memories of memories, not the actual episode itself. By changing our perceptions of our memories, we can alter or “spin” those images to be more favorable and compatible with our current views. This is called the consistency bias. We do this unconsciously, but it is an adjustment we should be aware of. Sometimes we assume things (or our memory of things) have always been the same as we recall them now. We might mistakenly think we’ve always made time for our families or hobbies, then be reminded that this wasn’t always the case. Other times, we think much more progress has been made than actually exists, like when you dedicate hours to learning a new skill and overestimate how far you’ve actually gone. Our recent activity and thoughts can influence our thoughts about the past.
A bias is a preference or inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment. A memory bias comes down to incorrectly remembering our past attitudes and behavior as resembling our present attitudes and behavior. These are incidental, mental shortcuts to help our brains lessen the heavy load of constantly processing information. These shortcuts sometimes are less than helpful or accurate. We all have them; they affect every one of us. While it’s easier to identify them in other people, you and I are just as susceptible and exhibit them, too. It’s only by learning to identify them in ourselves, and reflecting on our own thinking processes and tendencies that we can work to minimize their influence and correct our thinking.
The consistency bias describes our aim to keep our memories and perceptions of past ourselves consistent with the person we are now. When a memory conflicts with what we now know, or how we see currently ourselves, this creates a tension – cognitive dissonance. This cognitive dissonance demands resolution.
This bias betrays our desire to remain consistent with our beliefs. The pull to remain consistent can affect all sorts of perceptions about ourselves. One example is not noticing the changes in your own understanding or beliefs because the consistency bias shapes you into thinking you’ve always held your current beliefs. We don’t like to admit change – or that we were wrong – so we mold our memories to reflect our current thinking, ignoring and eventually forgetting what was more true then.
Instead of assuming you’ve always held your current opinions, or always acted the same way you do today, take a step back to acknowledge how you’ve grown. Society tends to regard changing our opinions as a bad thing, but if you’ve learned and change an opinion in light of new information, that is growth. Growth is excellent, and ironically, needed to advance ourselves and society. Emerson understood this. Consistency bias can fool us into thinking we’ve always been the person we are today. Instead, look for the ways you’ve grown and don’t expect your past self to be who you are today or will be in the future. Growth is good. Instead of being haunted by the shadow of your past self, focus on becoming less wrong.
