The Peak-End Rule
You don't remember experiences — you remember the worst moment and the last one.
Grounded in the research on peak-end rule
Know the rule
Kahneman and Redelmeier proved this in 1993 with colonoscopy patients. Patients who endured a longer procedure — but with a gentler ending — rated it as less painful overall than a shorter, sharper one. Total duration didn't matter. The average didn't matter. Two data points ran the whole judgment: the peak intensity and the final moment. That's it. That's how your brain scores every experience you've ever had.
Check your peak
Whatever felt most intense — good or bad — is stamped into your memory and dominates the verdict. A brutal hour-long argument poisons a six-month relationship. One extraordinary dinner saves an otherwise forgettable trip. The peak warps the whole. So audit it: in the experience you're judging right now, what was the actual peak? Was it real, or was it one bad outlier you're letting stand in for everything?