Ever played the game of telephone? By the time the message reaches the last person, it’s often hilariously distorted. That’s Leveling and Sharpening in action – the tendency for our memories to emphasize certain aspects of an event (sharpening) while minimizing or completely eliminating others (leveling). This cognitive bias subtly, yet powerfully, shapes our understanding of the world, our decisions, and even our relationships. Let’s dive into this fascinating phenomenon and explore how to become more aware of its influence.

1. What is Leveling and Sharpening?

Leveling and Sharpening is a memory bias where we involuntarily modify recalled information. Imagine a witness describing a crime: they might vividly recall the color of the getaway car (sharpening) but completely forget the driver’s height (leveling).

Psychologically, this stems from our brains being efficient, not perfect, recorders. Encoding and retrieving information is resource-intensive. Instead of storing every detail, our brains prioritize what seems most relevant, important, or emotionally charged. In evolutionary terms, this meant quickly focusing on threats (a bright red predator) and discarding less important details (the color of the surrounding grass). Selective attention and memory encoding, therefore, contribute to this bias.

2. Why We Fall For It

Several factors contribute to our susceptibility to Leveling and Sharpening:

• Limited Cognitive Capacity: Our brains have finite resources. We can’t possibly remember every detail.
• Emotional Significance: Information tied to strong emotions (fear, joy, anger) is more likely to be sharpened. Think about vivid memories from childhood - they’re often linked to strong feelings.
• Pre-existing Schemas and Beliefs: We tend to filter information through our existing worldview. Information that confirms our beliefs gets sharpened, while conflicting information gets leveled.
• Effort After Meaning: As Bartlett showed in his classic “War of the Ghosts” experiment, when people recall stories that are unfamiliar or culturally different, they tend to distort and simplify the narrative to fit their own understanding. This highlights how leveling and sharpening can occur in an attempt to make sense of the world.

3. Examples in Real Life

• News Consumption: News outlets, influenced by audience preferences, might sharpen shocking details while leveling context or nuance. This can lead to biased perceptions of events and fuel political polarization.
• Hiring Decisions: An interviewer might sharpen a candidate’s minor personality flaw while leveling their significant accomplishments. This could lead to overlooking qualified individuals based on superficial impressions.
• Health Decisions: Someone with a family history of heart disease might sharpen the negative aspects of saturated fat while leveling the potential benefits of moderate consumption. This can lead to unnecessarily restrictive diets and anxiety.

4. Consequences of the Bias

Unchecked Leveling and Sharpening can have serious consequences:

• Distorted Judgment: We make decisions based on incomplete and skewed information, leading to poor choices.
• Polarized Opinions: We selectively remember information that confirms our biases, reinforcing extreme views and hindering constructive dialogue.
• Undermined Learning: By selectively remembering information, we create knowledge gaps and hinder our ability to build a complete and accurate understanding of a subject.
• Relationship Problems: Misremembering details during arguments can escalate conflicts and damage relationships.

5. How to Recognize and Reduce It

The good news is that awareness can mitigate this bias. Try these strategies:

• Active Recall with Intention: When trying to recall an event, consciously try to remember all the details, not just the highlights. Challenge yourself to remember the mundane and seemingly insignificant aspects.
• Devil’s Advocate Thinking: Force yourself to consider alternative interpretations and evidence that contradicts your initial impressions.
• Pre-Mortems: Before a project or decision, imagine it has failed and brainstorm all the potential reasons why. This can uncover overlooked details that might be getting leveled.
• Seek Diverse Perspectives: Actively seek out information from different sources and viewpoints. Read books, articles, and opinions that challenge your existing beliefs.
• Record Information: Keeping a journal, notes, or recordings can help you revisit details you might otherwise forget or distort.
• Question Your Memory: Always be aware that memories are reconstructions, not perfect recordings. Ask, “What am I sharpening here? What am I leveling?”

6. Cognitive Biases That Interact With This One

• Confirmation Bias: We tend to seek out and remember information that confirms our existing beliefs, leading to further sharpening of confirming details and leveling of disconfirming ones.
• Availability Heuristic: We judge the likelihood of events based on how easily they come to mind. Vivid, emotionally charged events are more easily recalled and therefore sharpened, while less memorable events are leveled, leading to inaccurate risk assessments.

7. Conclusion

Leveling and Sharpening is a fundamental aspect of how our memories function, shaping our perceptions and decisions in subtle yet powerful ways. By understanding this bias, we can become more aware of its influence and take steps to counteract it. Remember that your memory is not a perfect recorder; it’s a storyteller. The key is to be a critical listener.

What details have you sharpened or leveled in your own memories lately? Take a moment to reflect on this, and consider what strategies you can implement to ensure a more balanced and accurate perspective.