A version of the focusing illusion can occur over time as well. My mother (a clinical phychologist) once described a common phenomenon among her patients that she called "levelling and sharpening." When reflecting on our own lives and the historic events we've lived through, most things blend into the background (leveling), but certain events or activities take on exaggerated significance (sharpening). The sharpend things could serve a healthly purpose such as emphasizing the positive and crowding out the negative ("...but we'll always have Paris!); they could be harmlessly or mildly intrusive ("...did I ever tell you about the time I...?"); or they could become harmful or even all-consuming obsessions ("...since my daughter [did that thing that has taken on exaggerated significance because of my own focusing illusion], she's dead to me now.!").
Brilliant add-on—thank you. We discussed the idea of time impacts at dinner over the weekend—that time has a huge impact. That led us to a discussion about living in a future state rather than from a past state. I think your example of 'the daughter' crosses over to this idea. I am going to do some more research on the idea of 'sharpening.' Thanks again
A version of the focusing illusion can occur over time as well. My mother (a clinical phychologist) once described a common phenomenon among her patients that she called "levelling and sharpening." When reflecting on our own lives and the historic events we've lived through, most things blend into the background (leveling), but certain events or activities take on exaggerated significance (sharpening). The sharpend things could serve a healthly purpose such as emphasizing the positive and crowding out the negative ("...but we'll always have Paris!); they could be harmlessly or mildly intrusive ("...did I ever tell you about the time I...?"); or they could become harmful or even all-consuming obsessions ("...since my daughter [did that thing that has taken on exaggerated significance because of my own focusing illusion], she's dead to me now.!").
Brilliant add-on—thank you. We discussed the idea of time impacts at dinner over the weekend—that time has a huge impact. That led us to a discussion about living in a future state rather than from a past state. I think your example of 'the daughter' crosses over to this idea. I am going to do some more research on the idea of 'sharpening.' Thanks again