Memory lies
Memory is reconstructive. We recall events based on the emotional peak and the end — a dinner with one extraordinary moment is remembered as great; a solid, unremarkable evening is remembered as mediocre. This reconstruction is unreliable.
A rating captured immediately after bypasses the bias. It records how you actually felt, not how you will choose to remember feeling.
Three data points, thirty seconds
- Energy score (1-5). How did you feel leaving, relative to arriving? Up, neutral, or down?
- Social density. Was this the right group size — intimate, medium, or large?
- One word. The word that best describes the evening. This becomes the memory anchor.
After thirty outings, your rating history becomes a decision tool. Patterns emerge: certain venues drain you, certain group compositions energise, certain timing produces systematically different outcomes. This is a foundation for better defaults, not a substitute for novelty.
The rule: rate before you sleep. Morning ratings are already reconstructive. Capture it when the feeling is still present.
Steady wins.