Thank you, Brian Carlson for your question: you got me thinking…. I am rather convinced that the experience equation holds regardless of the domain as it is rooted in our perceptions and the ways in which our brains work, which is independent of the situation we perceive. So, as much I am going to form a memory while going to the doctor based on the attitude of the doctor herself, her empathy, the waiting time, etc. as I am going to do so with my dishwasher based on the fact how efficient it is, how reliable and so on.

At first, I had a thought that perhaps you might want to add a different weights to the elements of the equation but again, it seems to be a fallacy: again regardless of what o who we interact with we do form expectations (it is an intrinsic need for our brain so it can assess how much energy a given interaction will going to cost us), we do have moment-to-moment sensual experiences that trigger our actions and perceptions and we are going to form a memory (which may not last long if the interaction was not particularly significant to us).

But there are two points that I would like to mention — there is certainly the case that some interactions are more memory-prone than others. It is more likely that we will remember our holidays than a regular visit to a doctor. so, you might say that some domains have an easier job to form memories we are likely to remember (which many of them don’t quite realize or do anything about).

The second point regards time: we build the memories over time. With my dishwasher it might take a year or so for the interaction to create a definitive narrative in my head. With the doctor’s visit, it might take just one time (but the memory may keep on shifting and changing with every other visit due to the positive adaptation). With holidays after a week or two the memory is “finalized”. So, time is a factor that needs to be taken into account in this equation :) Thank you for triggering me to think about it.

Greetings from Warsaw,

Aga